Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
Sports => Football => Topic started by: Tallman on March 17, 2020, 02:01:53 PM
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FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
FIFA.com
The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA. The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.
Therefore, the mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following:
- to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;
- to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
- to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check.
The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.
RELATED NEWS
FIFA Normalisation committee takes over T&TFA.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
A Normalisation Committee is set to take over the administration of football in T&T for a period of maximum two years. This new development which was widely expected, took place yesterday, mere weeks after a visit by a FIFA/CONCACAF team, on a fact-finding mission to the T&T Football Association, found an extremely low overall financial situation that placed the William Wallace-led TTFA on the periphery of insolvency.
On Tuesday, a release from the world governing body for football- FIFA on its website stated that: “The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today (Tuesday) decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the T&T Football Association in accordance with articles 8, par 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
Article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes reads: "Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period."
The decision follows the recent FIFA/CONCACAF fact-finding mission to T&T to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of the TTFA. The mission found that extremely low financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.”
It added: “Such a situation is putting at risk the organization and the development of football in the country, and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.” Ironically, the committee comes at a time when the Wallace-led football executive had won over the public's trust from the David John-Williams led administration based on transparency and accountability, and the ability to raise funding to treat with the association's burdening debt, which it is understood, to be in the region of $50 million, Wallace said recently at a press conference at the Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain on March 4.
Only last week Ramesh Ramdhan, the T&T football association's general secretary told Guardian Media Sports that the FIFA/CONCACAF team had expressed satisfaction with the plans and structures his association had put in place, as well as their plans to treat with the financial affairs, and they (FIFA) was willing to pump money to assist the embattled football association.
The normalisation committee is expected to: Run the TTFA's daily affairs: To establish a debt repayment plan that is implemented by the TTFA: To review and amend the TTFA Statutes and other regulations where necessary and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress: To organize and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
This is the first time the FIFA normalisation committee has had to take over the governance of T&T football which is 112 years old, and a FIFA member for the last 76 years, and it comes amidst rising concerns of questionable contracts, promises of many local and international sponsors that are still to materialize, and promises of transparency and accountability being compromised by members of the Board of Directors complaining of being left out of the decision-making process since the new executive took over just over three months ago.
According to the release: “The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with CONCACAF. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check. The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period during which the normalisation committee will perform its function will expire as soon it has fulfilled all its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.”
Contacted by Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday Wallace, who was elected to the local organisation top post on November 24 last year, said he was surprised with the position taken by the FIFA and particularly for the reasons given. The local football boss said they have been working on some stuff and will contact the FIFA for official confirmation since he only saw it on the FIFA website, noting that he or his general secretary had not been contacted or informed about it.
“After the FIFA team visited and said it was satisfied. We gave the FIFA a total breakdown of the TTFA financial debt with all the court matters and rulings etc. We also gave them a structural plan of how we were moving forward. And at the end of the audit, a statement was made that they were satisfied, and we were told to get the freeze on the account removed before the FIFA can start sending money again, so I am shocked now at the steps taken,” Wallace explained.
Former president John-Williams told Guardian Media Sports that he had no comment on the matter on Tuesday.
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to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
??? ??? ::)
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This some all caps BULLSHIT
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to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
??? ??? ::)
What that means?
They going and have re elections?
So Wallace gone?
I hope not.
DJW send up T&T debts by 34 million after he took over from Tim Kee, I hope this guy don't run for elections again.
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This is heartbreaking. They now gonna step in??? When that pig was running our debt up, FIFA was coming to eat bake and shark and shake hands...all of a sudden they wanna do this??
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This is heartbreaking. They now gonna step in??? When that pig was running our debt up, FIFA was coming to eat bake and shark and shake hands...all of a sudden they wanna do this??
don't you know that the said fat ugly pig you're talking about is behind this mele?? i really hate trinis with all my heart, they are some bad mind jealous disruptive unpatriotic people, no wonder we can't even win another caribbean cup. our people are too bloody destructive and evil. i think i'm supporting jamaica from here on in.
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FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
FIFA.com
The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA. The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.
Therefore, the mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following:
- to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;
- to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
- to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check.
The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.
so please tell us what all this means, and in very lay man's terms. is william wallace no longer in charge, because i'm hearing thee committee is being removed yet no word of the president, and is the appointments of all the other coaches adn stff revoked? come on give us the scoop in block language.
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The motive behind these developments are very transparent and show that FIFA stands for corruption. They allow the people who run up the bill to leave the bar, but the people who came in to work on paying the bill get arrested?
This is pure corruption.
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The motive behind these developments are very transparent and show that FIFA stands for corruption. They allow the people who run up the bill to leave the bar, but the people who came in to work on paying the bill get arrested?
This is pure corruption.
it's fifa you're talking about, as the other poster said, they left that nasty pig to ruin our football then they swoop in to play savior, i which they had done that when jack was in charge. in my opinion jack warner was the one who is mainly responsible for this debt, and he gets to go free with a lion share pension. well that's justice for you fifa style.
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it pains me to say this but i'm coming to the conclusion that contro might have been on the ball all along. it seems to me that montagliani and infantino might have been behind jeopardizing our football after all tp push the bigger teams in concacaf and keep the marginalized caribbean teams in the dust bin.
what i think the CFU should do if they have any balls is to support the next president for fifa, and vote as a block and make demands, like changing the ridiculous world cup format and asking of the same montagliani to relent to our damands or else our votes will go to our own regional concacaf president.
as for andre baptiste, that dog was all to happy to announce that bit of bad news, i could only think he had something to do with it. boy my hate for trinis in trinidad has been intensified as of now, these people have been so blessed with wealth talent and good fortune but they continually support destruction and corruption in stead of excellence. what a bloody waste.
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The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.
How recent did this start? We know someone is frien with de FIFA president....
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Contro don't look so Krazzzzy now eh.
Been keeping my mout shut because I have on proof.
But the essence of what Contro had been saying aligns with the narrative of Empire behavior, and more specifically the planned, systemic, oppression our people have been facing from time immemorial.
Go to Wired868 and read Liburd's report on this issue. Both Infantino and Concacaf's president are behind this. . .
Now! What are we going to do? Leh me guess. . .Nothing
Lord, I pray that there is some misunderstanding here--that this will be turned around.
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Contro don't look so Krazzzzy now eh.
Been keeping my mout shut because I have on proof.
But the essence of what Contro had been saying aligns with the narrative of Empire behavior, and more specifically the planned, systemic, oppression our people have been facing from time immemorial.
Go to Wired868 and read Liburd's report on this issue. Both Infantino and Concacaf's president are behind this. . .
Now! What are we going to do? Leh me guess. . .Nothing
Lord, I pray that there is some misunderstanding here--that this will be turned around.
yeh boy, seems like i owe contro a serious apology. i wouldn't have believed it if i didn't see it myself and today was that eye opener i needed. infantino, mantagiani and that fat ugly pig was indeed keeping our football in a corner for a long time now as only a greedy sellout unpatriotic trini would do.
and i should have known when the referees were giving us such a hard time, case and point, that goal jovin scored against the mexicans at the hasely crawford stadium, it was very clear even to the naked eye that the man was on side by leaps and bounds but the jamaican lines man called him off side and it wasn't even close, not to mention the sending off alvin jones in that game vs honduras.
boy for a while there i had hope and was very optimistic and thought that we had finally turn the corner from such a turbulent 25 years of football mismanagement, but i guess i shouldn't expect anything with this bloody $#%*&#$% disgusting country, the moto for this island should be "the more things change the more it remains the same".
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Soooooooo...
i was curious about this beforehand....
how'd DJW cause this trail of mess (following after JW's mess too) and get away?
or was the new admin STILL putting stuff in place to charge him or start investigations to bring to court?
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Wallace just has to run for election and win again
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I'm too depressed to keep following this... FIFA is a disgusting and nasty place.
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We need to stand up against fifa guys. Seriously. Let’s petition. I’m sure the TTFA can file an injunction against FIFA whilst appealing this. There has to be some resolve, the measure they’re taking is pretty drastic. IF this conspiracy is true, then the courts can settle this. The present admin was democratically elected.
What?? We a soppy nation that just going and sit down like a bobolee and take manners jussso...this isn’t right guys.
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‘This is an attempted coup’
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
FIFA, the global governing body for football, has scrapped the TT Football Association (TTFA) board and decided to appoint a normalisation committee, in accordance with article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes.
This decision, by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, was announced on the FIFA website, on Tuesday. It means the tenure of president William Wallace, and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Sharon Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, which began on November 24, 2019 has come to an end.
Wallace and his United TTFA team defeated Team Impactors, led by David John-Williams, 26-20 at the elections, which took place at the Home of Football, Balmain, Couva.
However, Wallace has questioned the move made by FIFA, since his administration has been seeking to erase some of the $50 million debt inherited from the 2015-2019 John-Williams’ regime.
“It’s unfortunate in that we had four years of members of the TT Football Association complaining and many people outside the football fraternity asking what’s happening,” said Wallace. “Having come into office and identified some of the stuff that occurred under the last regime, and no action was taken then.
“It’s little strange that an administration that has come into office in November and this decision has been taken,” Wallace added.
Keith Look Loy, a member of the TTFA board and an influential member of United TTFA during their election campaign, was vocal in his condemnation of FIFA’s act.
“This is, in my view, an attempted coup d’etat by FIFA to remove a democratically elected administration, an administration elected by the will of the football community,” Look Loy said. “They are seeking to overturn that will and acting like a colonial absentee landlord that feels he could do whatever he wants, regardless of what the local people think because their views don’t matter. It is highly disrespectful.”
According to an article on the FIFA website, “The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to TT to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
However, Look Loy stressed that FIFA never took such drastic action during the previous TTFA leadership.
“FIFA presided over the mess created by John-Williams and his administration,” said Look Loy. “The debt that we inherited, the $4 million in monies deducted (from office staff) and never paid to the authorities, spending FIFA money on the Home of Football and the (Fire Service) refuse to allow us to open it.
“(FIFA) came and celebrated with him. The TTFA electorate rejected John-Williams. They want to hold a new administration, that has done nothing wrong, responsible for the sins of John-Williams’ administration. It is objectionable, unreasonable and unacceptable, and we’re not going to be taking it lying down.”
Wallace admitted that he was yet to be officially informed by FIFA about their decision.
“I got the same news that you got, via the same way that you got it,” he alluded. “I have not gotten anything official from FIFA as yet, neither my secretary (Ramesh Ramdhan).”
Look Loy added, “I understand, up to now, when I spoke to them about 15 minutes (before the interview) that FIFA has informed neither the president nor the general secretary of this move officially. That summarises the disrespect, that they feel they could sit afar and just dictate to us. People, including myself, repeatedly pointed out to FIFA officials that there was mismanagement. Their attitude was hands off and it was TTFA’s business, but suddenly it is their business.”
Wallace recently said the fact-finding mission was a positive one. However, he did not want to be drawn into speculation that this move was indirectly linked to John-Williams’ close ties with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
“I wouldn’t want to aggravate anything at this point, I would want to hold (back) on those statements. I don’t want to go down this road at this point.”
Look Loy opined, “(Team Impactors) have been trying to find every little opening to attack, and they’re being encouraged by high football authorities (as well as) the international and local media.”
The mandate of the normalisation committee includes – running the TTFA’s daily affairs; establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; reviewing and amending the TTFA statutes; organising and conducting elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
The normalisation committee will comprise an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check.
The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances.
The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.
Asked if he will be looking to appeal FIFA’s decision to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), Wallace replied, “It is new territory for me, we need to get some information on that.”
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We need to stand up against fifa guys. Seriously. Let’s petition. I’m sure the TTFA can file an injunction against FIFA whilst appealing this. There has to be some resolve, the measure they’re taking is pretty drastic. IF this conspiracy is true, then the courts can settle this. The present admin was democratically elected.
What?? We a soppy nation that just going and sit down like a bobolee and take manners jussso...this isn’t right guys.
That's how I feel. We should challenge this! The new admin have only been in office for just over 3 months. If things didn't improve over 2 years then I can justify what FIFA's doing.
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So suddenly Fifa has concluded they are going to put in place a normalisation committee in place to deal with / address the business of football as it stands . However the question is why now ? For four plus years they / Fifa allowed and turned a blind eye to the mismanagement of the past administration of David John Williams , not a damn thing was done then to address those issues , but of course why should they / Fifa do anything then when their boy toy was in place to do their bidding ! This development is absolutely disturbing and suspicious to say the least. I hope the current administration seek legal advice on this sudden development . It appears someone is running scared of what may be additionally found out hence the reason for this surprising and sudden turn of events . Someone at the very top / Fifa is very uncomfortable it seems .
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Pure corruption
https://wired868.com/2020/03/18/fifa-puts-djws-accountant-patrick-in-charge-of-ttfa-despite-being-subject-of-investigaton/
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Guys is not no convoluted conspiracy.
It's criminals hiding crime
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There are too many sell outs on local soil / that fat Cochon David williams is having a hearty laugh in he hideout right now / I have no doubt he and his cohorts vex he was not re elected So as a result the intent is to plot and do as much damage as possible ..... This whole thing stinks to put it mildly its fraud / corruption at the highest level .
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Fifa puts DJW’s accountant, Patrick, in charge of TTFA, despite being subject of investigaton
https://wired868.com/2020/03/18/fifa-puts-djws-accountant-patrick-in-charge-of-ttfa-despite-being-subject-of-investigaton/
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Under cover of
dark night COVID-19, rather than normalcy .. yet they're ostensibly "normalising". Wetting my powder.
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This is a clear, shameless attempt by FIFA and Concacaf to contravene the new, democratically-elected FA executive in the interest of having an executive that is more friendly to them in power. I believe the only recourse the ousted executive would now have would be to take the case to an independent body such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as mentioned in the above article. Maybe, locally, an organization such as the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs would be able to do something about it were they to declare the new FIFA-placed committee null and void as was similarly done when TTFF ceded to TTFA in 2012...though that would open up a new rabbit hole. Sadly, regardless of the fact that what FIFA have done is clearly unethical -- to me there are clear and obvious conflicts of interest at play -- I am not sure they have broken any rules given the state of the TTFA (even though that is all down to previous administrations and the new TTFA were making positive strides, at least in my opinion). That would also likely be a long, expensive legal battle that I'm not sure the ousted executive could manage against the financial might of FIFA. It sounds like a poor option to me, but the only possible recourse may well be just to allow the normalisation committee to finish its work, and hopefully ensure that when the next elections are held, that the right people win the vote.
On a personal note, outside of the FAs and good people who I work with directly, I have largely stepped away from my work with Caribbean football, mainly due to the piss-poor state of football governance (with a few exceptions) across the region. For years I have argued for better accountability and transparency throughout the FAs in the region, but things have actually deteriorated since I really started working on football data in the region in 2008. I can assure you, even under DJW, the TTFA wasn't even in the "Top 10" of the worst-run FAs in the region. While I have constantly criticized the current Concacaf regime for their treatment of the Caribbean, the only people truly responsible for the shameful state of football governance across the region are the administrators at those FAs. The now-ousted TTFA executive had given me hope of things beginning to change, at least in one corner of the Caribbean. In the past, a stronger CFU may have been able to keep FIFA, and especially Concacaf, in check on matters such as this, but since Concacaf opened their Jamaica office in 2017 and the CFU basically allowed itself to be basically consigned to oblivion, there is little chance of that now.
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Who's up for the fight? It's time to rumble with an uncompromised message. It's time to protect recent gains. It's time not merely to respond, but to act decisively. It's time to be clear and certain.
Our passport and values are worth nothing if our response is acquiescence.
Do not cosign bullshit and endorse history repeating itself.
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Who's up for the fight? It's time to rumble with an uncompromised message. It's time to protect recent gains. It's time not merely to respond, but to act decisively. It's time to be clear and certain.
Our passport and values are worth nothing if our response is acquiescence.
Do not cosign bullshit and endorse history repeating itself.
But how??? How can we as supporters do something??
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I down!
When Jack shamelessly tried to steal our world cup ticket allotment via Simpaul, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Express outlining the brazenness of the act. I outlined the actual costs of tickets and the actual costs of going to Germany as well as the correct process to obtain tickets and how tickets are allocated to national associations. All of which Jack was trying to ignore in the name of the grift. It was one of the first letters if not first and was followed by not a deluge but a steady stream of outrage. Lasana Liburd soon picked up the thread and turned up the pressure on Jack until he was forced to back down and play like it was all a misunderstanding.
We can do something. Call your member of parliament. Call the Minister of Sports. Call into the radio stations and let the truth be known. Write letters to the editor. We could do something small individually that can turn into something big. We must fight this fight.
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FIFA Normalisation Committee - The Final Nail in T&T Football’s Coffin?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
Admittedly, I had written my column since last Sunday as with this Covid-19 pandemic, there are little to no sports to watch live on television and I am not venturing to see anything taking place locally because I try to stay away from crowds.
Instead, I was looking back at the Liverpool versus Atletico Madrid game in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 and I was focusing on some interesting post-match comments by two managers whom I have the highest respect for - Jurgen Klopp and Diego Simeone.
Simeone made the most telling contribution when he suggested that the tie was unfair to Liverpool as his team had 120 minutes in which to score an away goal (and we know how precious away goals are), while Liverpool only had 90 minutes to score that all-important away goal in the first leg of the tie. The away goals rule does indeed make the competition exciting but Simeone has a great point and I suppose we can all find ways to either support or disagree with him, but I am certain that it is something UEFA will look at going forward.
I went back to the column-writing board and scrapped what I previously wrote as I am in a state of shock and disbelief - it has nothing to do with the devastation Covid-19 is causing worldwide, that is bad enough; but, is Fifa trying to finally put the nail in the coffin of T&T’s football?
The headline read, “FIFA removes TTFA board, appoints normalisation committee”. Unbelievable yet true.
Perhaps David Rudder has to compose a new song alluding to this could not be football here but rather, madness. Fifa has appointed this normalisation committee due to, according to them, TTFA’s low financial management methods and massive debt. Reading on, the mighty and untouchable Fifa says the decision follows the recent Fifa/Concacaf fact-finding mission to T&T which found that the TTFA was facing a “very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.
This ‘normalisation’ committee now has four mandates: 1 To run TTFA’s daily affairs; 2 To establish a debt repayment plan that is implemented by the TTFA; 3 To review and amend the TTFA statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the Fifa statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval; 4 To conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
But the burning question remains: after four years, has Fifa finally woken up and now realised that T&T’s football has been in shambles? Well, FIFA, many examples render this sudden intervention as rather peculiar. Our debt rose from $15M to $50M, how come you didn’t investigate that? The ‘Home of Football’ project which you gave a neat sum of money for and your esteemed president came here and posed with the Prime Minister and it still can’t be operationalised, how come you didn’t investigate that? Stephen Hart was fired in bizarre circumstances, why didn’t you investigate that? How come you didn’t investigate the hiring of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet following Hart’s dismissal and his subsequent resignation after just 35 days on the job?
Fifa, how come you haven’t investigated the sharp decline in women’s football in T&T when in 2014, we played a playoff with Ecuador and were on the brink of World Cup qualification and two years later, we can’t even beat St. Kitts & Nevis? How come you haven’t investigated why the technical director was fired and hasn’t been paid multiple payments for rendered services? FIFA, why have you not investigated how coaches were appointed for various national teams and some have never been paid? How come, Fifa, you haven’t investigated why we didn’t field a team for the Olympic qualifiers? Going back to the ‘Home of Football’, Fifa, how come you didn’t know the building was uninsured and lacked statutory certifications from agencies such as the T&T Fire Service before having your president attend the ‘opening’ ceremony? How come you didn’t investigate rumours during the past year about late payments to suppliers and the non-payment of salaries to staff?
How come you didn’t investigate the claim by the executive who invited your president (and only God knows why the Prime Minister was at the opening) that the debt inherited was reduced from $30M to $18M, when in fact after the new executive told you the debt is $50M, you suddenly agree to investigate? FIFA how can this debt jump from $18M to $50M in a mere few weeks?
Fifa, can you please investigate why crowds don’t go to support T&T football anymore? At the same time, you may want to heap praise after investigating our phenomenal 15-0 win over Anguilla?
Fifa, can you investigate why a committee was formed to start a proposed T-League, an intended merger between the Pro League and the Super League - the top two professional football leagues, the committee sent in a budget and all proposals to start the league and just like that, Fifa, it was stopped and the then TTFA administration organised a "League of Champions" and it is alleged that certain clubs received bounced cheques. Please, in local parlance, “ah begging!” you, Fifa, to investigate that.
Fifa, when you investigate how the money was spent to build the ‘Home of Football’, the country would like to know how much more money is needed to complete the building to have it fully functional.
Fifa, I have lots more for you to investigate but I figure it’s a good start for your normalisation committee, but did you know that the current executive of the TTFA was duly and democratically elected at an annual general meeting (AGM) of the Association by clubs and officials who were entitled to vote? This intervention reeks of something more, to say the least.
According to one of your former vice-presidents: “Fifa is the most political organisation in the world”. I genuinely believe him.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.
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TTFA going to CAS for justice after FIFA takeover
By Walter Alibey and Andre Baptiste (T&T Guardian)
Disappointed by what they considered to be an unjust, unfair and disrespectful act by the world governing body for football (FIFA), the T&T Football Association under the leadership of William Wallace has turned to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to overturn a decision by FIFA, which on Tuesday appointed a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of T&T football.
The TTFA has retained the services of attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Mathew Gayle two prominenent sports lawyers.
Ramesh Ramdhan, general secretary of the embattled football association, revealed on Wednesday that their attorneys would be writing to the FIFA to begin their fight against the decision.
"We took a while to get over the shock, it was total disbelief. Since then we have pooled our resources together and have decided that this is injustice, it is disrespect, it shows some political play going on here to protect, I don't know who, but clearly, this is unprecedented when you look at what those committees are set up to do. It is in cases of political interference, political turmoil, democratic processes such as elections. Our elections were supervised by the FIFA and CONCACAF, so there were no issues with the elections, but now they are saying because of the same financial deficiency that we pointed out to them when they were here, they are now using that as a reason, but we have gone beyond that, we have put things in place."
"What we are doing now, is using the same thing that they sent and petitioning the court of arbitration for sports to deal with this matter. Because to not do that, will be to allow injustice to prevail," Ramdhan explained.
In a letter dated March 17 to the TTFA general secretary Ramdhan FIFA wrote: Under these serious circumstances, and in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa statutes (which foresees that executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Fifa Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time), the Bureau of the Council decided, on 17 March 2020, to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
On receiving the news on Tuesday President William Wallace told Andre Errol Baptiste on iSports on i95.5fm radio programme that: "We are not going to roll over and die."
According to the local football boss “There is still hope, we have written to FIFA and we are awaiting a response and we will take it from there. When Fifa arrived, we gave them a report from our finance professionals detailing what structures and areas need to be addressed in a report form and they told us great, that was half of their work done so now to read these statements on the financial structure, it's strange. Also, as it relates to the debt, we gave the team an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with one of our partners on how we planned to address the debt issue and as I have stated we will clear the debt in two years. So what I am saying, if they had questions on the documents, we presented, they could have called us to discuss, that is all and ask for more proof."
Wallace said he is also awaiting a response from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in light of what had transpired.
"Incidentally, I got a call from the president of the Union - Randy Harris, and he asked about the account being frozen and I mentioned how it was a court matter and we are working on it. He told me that 'T&T is very important to the Caribbean in football so we cannot allow FIFA to send a Normalisation Committee." and that 'Whatever support we can help with at the CFU, we will'. But of course, they do not have much funds but he also stated that when our conversation was finished he was going to call CONCACAF," said Wallace.
Word of the normalisation committee had both men taken aback, particularly as it is felt the FIFA was contradicting its policy. According to Ramdhan "In summing up the visit by the FIFA/CONCACAF team over the days of activities here, they were quite pleased. As a matter of fact, they commended us for taking certain measures to rectify the financial issues we faced, and we had already done a paper to take to the Board for approval, therefore this decision runs contrary to what we were told."
Ramdhan said his association was not informed of the decision and had to get it from the website.
The FIFA correspondance continued: 'The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by the FIFA administration. The exact date for the normalisation committee to complete its mandate will be communicated by the Fifa administration once its members have been appointed.
In the interim and before the normalisation committee is fully operational, the TTFA administration’s management will be supervised by Mr Tyril Patrick, who will directly report to Fifa. The TTFA administration—in its entirety—will therefore report to Mr Patrick until the normalisation committee has been put in place.'
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We ent taking this one lying down at all.
DJW, nasty man Selby and FIFA and dem extend theyself too much with this one. We ent taking that so! :cursing:
They bounce they head bad
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Wallace said he is also awaiting a response from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in light of what had transpired.
"Incidentally, I got a call from the president of the Union - Randy Harris, and he asked about the account being frozen and I mentioned how it was a court matter and we are working on it. He told me that 'T&T is very important to the Caribbean in football so we cannot allow FIFA to send a Normalisation Committee." and that 'Whatever support we can help with at the CFU, we will'. But of course, they do not have much funds but he also stated that when our conversation was finished he was going to call CONCACAF," said Wallace.
Am very pleased to read this whole article, and especially this part...hopefully they will prove me wrong about CFU
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I think I saw on the news where they were taking fifa to court, I think it’s some sort of sport arbitration court, did anyone else heard or is privy to this info?
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They must really think that all people from TT are that docile and stupid...
The sell outs are fools and have a value they can be bought at, but the rest who actually want to see our football progress don’t have a price..
Fifa if they lose this battle, which I am hoping for may try to ban TT football, the next question will be, Cfu will have no choice but to come together as a bloc once again and finally use that power ....
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Allyuh mad?!? Its 2020, the days of Trinbagonians taking this shit are over. Petition signed, money donated. Fack dem, lets go!
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Who's up for the fight? It's time to rumble with an uncompromised message. It's time to protect recent gains. It's time not merely to respond, but to act decisively. It's time to be clear and certain.
Our passport and values are worth nothing if our response is acquiescence.
Do not cosign bullshit and endorse history repeating itself.
Amen
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WATCH: Lasana Liburd talking with Fazeer Mohammed about FIFA's appointment of a normalization committee to run Trinidad and Tobago. (https://www.tv6tnt.com/watch_live/)
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TTFA could lose sponsor after FIFA takeover.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
ONE of the latest sponsors of the TT Football Association (TTFA), Caribbean Chemicals and Agencies Ltd, said it is not willing to continue its sponsorship of local football if Fifa reverts to the “same old.”
On Tuesday, news spread that Fifa decided to disband the TTFA, led by William Wallace.
On Wednesday at 2.40 am, the TTFA received an email from Fifa saying former TTFA employee Tyril Patrick will lead the local football body, before a normalisation committee is selected to run T&T football.
Patrick served as finance manager under David John-Williams, who was ousted as TTFA president in November 2019 after serving at the helm for four years.
According to an article on the Fifa website, “The decision (to disband Fifa) follows the recent Fifa/Concacaf fact-finding mission to TT to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.” Caribbean Chemicals was one of the many sponsors to jump on board since the TTFA held its elections in November. William Wallace was elected as president, replacing John-Williams.
Since being elected Wallace has gathered a number of local and international sponsors including local-based company Caribbean Chemicals, which signed a four-year partnership worth $1.5 million just two weeks ago. The agreement was supposed to support the development and improvement of playing pitches at senior, junior and school levels. Among the other sponsors that the Wallace-led TTFA attained was a four-year $25 million deal with Avec UK, the largest partnership the TTFA has been involved in since the Fifa 2006 World Cup in Germany. Sports and Games also signed a four-year deal with TTFA recently.
Speaking with Newsday, shortly before the news broke that Fifa decided to hire Patrick, chairman of Caribbean Chemicals Joe Pires said, “I really have no comment until I see what Fifa wants to do and what they are doing. Logically my concern would be if they go back with the old same old I would be not interested, but if Fifa is interested in carrying football forward as the rest of T&T is we would be interested in continuing the discussion of us staying on as a possible sponsor. If it’s back to the same old, same old we not interested.”
Asked what he meant by same old, Pires said, “Well it depends on who they appoint to the board. We will be extremely concerned if they revert to the past. We are thinking future, we are thinking forward which is what we were sold on (when we decided to sponsor)...I don’t know what they are going to do, what their thinking is, I don’t. When I start to see who they appoint to the committee and who the people are going to be that’s when we will make a decision.”
Please click here to sign this Reinstate United TTFA as executive board of Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (https://www.change.org/p/visa-reinstate-united-ttfa-as-executive-board-of-trinidad-tobago-football-association?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_20940709_en-US%3Av4&recruiter=1008360326&recruited_by_id=3db05fd0-e908-11e9-bc09-dbc1307f78f4&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial).
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Solidarity needed. Now more than ever!!
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Okay, this is what somebody posted on a DMV( DC) chat. He heard that somebody we know very well wrote a letter and blow the whistle after the very contentious meeting that TTFA had the other day. Is this true or not ?
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WATCH: Why has Fifa shut down the TTFA Board? And what can besieged TTFA president William Wallace do about it? Wired868 editor and journalist Lasana Liburd talks to TV6 Morning Edition host Fazeer Mohammed
https://www.youtube.com/v/775PSAcNOqE
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FIFA puts ex-TTFA finance manager in charge.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
FIFA has appointed former TT Football Association (TTFA) employee Tyril Patrick to lead the local football body before a normalisation committee is selected to run T&T football.
Patrick served as finance manager under John-Williams, who was ousted as TTFA president in November 2019 after serving at the helm for four years.
On Tuesday, Fifa disbanded the current executive led by president William Wallace. According to an article on the Fifa website, “The decision follows the recent Fifa/Concacaf fact-finding mission to T&T to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
Up to press time on Tuesday, the TTFA did not receive any correspondence from Fifa on its decision.
However, former general secretary of the TTFA Ramesh Ramdhan, who worked under Wallace, said the local football body received an e-mail early Wednesday morning confirming the appointment of Patrick and the decision by Fifa to remove Wallace and his executive.
Asked if Fifa contacted TTFA, Ramdhan said, "I did so at 2.40 am this morning. They apologised saying it was sent to the wrong e-mail address."
Asked if the e-mail contained the appointment of Patrick, Ramdhan said, "Yes, that is in the letter as well."
Video - TTFA v FIFA: Wired868's Lasana Liburd talks to TV6 Morning Edition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=775PSAcNOqE&feature=emb_title)
Please click here to sign this Reinstate United TTFA as executive board of Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (https://www.change.org/p/visa-reinstate-united-ttfa-as-executive-board-of-trinidad-tobago-football-association?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_20940709_en-US%3Av4&recruiter=1008360326&recruited_by_id=3db05fd0-e908-11e9-bc09-dbc1307f78f4&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial).
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We had years of three former corrupt and/or disorganized football administrations. For the first time in decades, a president sets a plan in place to eliminate the debt and erase the scandalous activities of the past and now is the time FIFA attempts to act.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity."
But they put the finance manager who oversaw that situation back in charge. If that is not a questionable corrupt decision, I don't know what is! This TTFA is a legally, constitutionally elected organization. There was no election fraud or current proven financial fraud. At least, FIFA has not provided any evidence of that. How could FIFA after only three months and with the hope provided by this President suddenly decide to remove the President and disband the organization? Where were they all these years? As someone earlier said, this is a blatant coup d'etat and another demonstration of the corrupt, immoral organization that FIFA is. Is there a forum where we fans can raise our voices? Let's support Wallace's return to office if he has to be voted a second time.
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Whatever we do, we should all do it together...strength in numbers. Let's decide what our plan of action should be.
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Very informative video between Lasana and Fazeer, the CFU nations really need to come together in unified support.
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Sign the petition.
Share on social media. Do your little part as we try to get the Caribbean football fraternity together
https://www.change.org/p/visa-reinstate-united-ttfa-as-executive-board-of-trinidad-tobago-football-association
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/duanepena_the-united-ttfa-was-on-the-move-of-bringing-activity-6646461689548029952-ovFj
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Forum, from a policy standpoint, continue to refer to William Wallace as President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. Naturally, this practice should apply to other members of the federation's directorate as effectively unaffected by the FIFA pronouncement.
Do NOT recognize the replacement apparatus in any form. Do not accord the replacement apparatus any legitimacy.
Reserve legitimacy for the Wallace administration. Refer to Mr. William Wallace as the legitimate president of the federation.
This practice should be particularly prominent in communicating with media entities.
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Forum, from a policy standpoint, continue to refer to William Wallace as President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. Naturally, this practice should apply to other members of the federation's directorate as effectively unaffected by the FIFA pronouncement.
Do NOT recognize the replacement apparatus in any form. Do not accord the replacement apparatus any legitimacy.
Reserve legitimacy for the Wallace administration. Refer to Mr. William Wallace as the legitimate president of the federation.
This practice should be particularly prominent in communicating with media entities.
Excellent!
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They must really think that all people from TT are that docile and stupid...
The sell outs are fools and have a value they can be bought at, but the rest who actually want to see our football progress don’t have a price..
Fifa if they lose this battle, which I am hoping for may try to ban TT football, the next question will be, Cfu will have no choice but to come together as a bloc once again and finally use that power ....
you setting up yourself for failure by depending on these black "BOYS" in CFU. remember those were the ones who betrayed jack warner and bin hamam, if they had taken the bribe and hushed their pie holes then at least the caribbean would've had a voice, but today we are in more dire straights because montagliani and infantino could care less about CFU.
i predict these uncle toms all backing away because they don't want to lose their fifa subventions. you all think that black people sell out in joke, and before you all attack me for being racist i do have black blood, indian blood white blood and chinese blood so i could attack all of them.
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CAFCECAFA
FIFA’s normalization committees – what are they and how do they work?
29th October 2018 Michael Smith Mugote No Comments
Whilst FIFA has been a topic of discussion over recent years for a variety of reasons, FIFA’s powers to intervene in its member associations’ governance receives little attention. Such powers are exercised by imposing “normalization committees” on member associations that FIFA determines are not complying with the FIFA Statutes (the Statutes).
Out of FIFA’s 211 members, a number of associations have recent or current experience of normalization committee intervention – Kuwait, Guinea, Guatemala, Greece, Argentina, Thailand, Mali and Benin to name a few. In the last two months, normalization committees have been appointed in Ghana1 and Uruguay2 and the mandate of the Cameroonian Football Association’s normalization committee has been extended from February 2018 to 16 December 2018
FIFA has also recently released a statement regarding the suspension of the Sierra Leon Football Association following government interference in the organisation and administration of the nation’s football association following allegations of wrongdoing and corruption against the president and General Secretary. It is not clear if a normalisation committee will be appointed for Sierra Leone and FIFA plans to await the outcome of the trial against the President before decided on any further action
In light of this, this article analyses the role of FIFA’s normalisation committees. Specifically, it looks at; When FIFA is entitled to intervene, circumstances in which FIFA has intervened, how normalization committees are constituted, the scope of their powers, what happens if there are disputes, key examples of normalization committees, comparisons with other sports, legitimacy of FIFA’s interventions
When is FIFA entitled to intervene?
FIFA’s power to intervene is derived from the Statutes.
Article 8 provides that:
“All bodies and officials must observe the Statutes, regulations, decisions and Code of Ethics of FIFA in their activities.
Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by the normalization committee for a specific period of time.
Every person and organization involved in the game of football is obliged to observe the statutes and regulations of FIFA as well as the principles of fair play.
The exceptional circumstances in which FIFA may intervene are not clearly defined but tend to involve a member association’s failure to ‘manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties’ even where such influence is not the fault of the member association. Furthermore, member associations are required to comply with the principles of good governance, including but not limited to political and religious neutrality, prohibition of discrimination, and judicial independence10.
The appointment of a normalisation committee is regarded as a last resort, when FIFA considers that the domestic governance of the game has irretrievably broken down. The constitution of a normalisation committee usually follows the suspension of a member association by the Council, where that member association is unable to confirm that it has demonstrated that it is able to comply with the requisite principles of good governance.
Whilst suspended, a member association loses all of its membership rights as defined in Article 13 of the statutes, and national and affiliated club teams are not entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted. Other member associations are also not permitted to have sporting contact with the member association during its suspension.
Circumstances in which FIFA has intervened
FIFA appointed a normalization committee for the Kuwait Football Association (KFA) on 18 January 2018 following a 2015 suspension for alleged government interference in the affairs of the KFA. Similarly, FIFA intervened in Mali’s Football Association (FEMAFOOT) for government interference after the Mali Sports Minister dissolved the executive committee of FEMAFOOT.
In the case of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), the executive committee was removed following a ban to the FAT’s president for a breach to FIFA’s Code of Ethics. He was given a suspended 16-month sentence by a Thai court for falsifying documents to amend the FAT statutes ahead of the FAT’s presidential election. A normalization committee was set up in 2015.
FIFA intervened in the governance of the Uruguayan Football Association after the sudden resignation of its president in July 2018. His resignation followed the release of compromising audio recordings, the content of which is unknown (although there are some suggestions that these recordings contained comments about sports administrators, a member of the government and sports journalists). FIFA’s intervention was based on the lack of guarantees for the electoral process. The normalization committee for the Ghanian Football Association was appointed following similar concerns regarding breaches of ethics in the member association and government interference.
Constitution of normalization committees
Normalisation committees are composed of an adequate number of members identified by FIFA and the relevant confederation and stakeholders. What is viewed as an adequate number of members varies, and normalization committees have been composed of three members in Uruguay, four in Ghana, and six in Thailand by way of some examples.
Members of normalisation committees are not required to have any particular skill-sets, but it is usually the case that members hail from the country in which the national association is based. Normalization committees tend to be made up of members from different backgrounds, albeit with some knowledge or experience of football and financial and legal affairs.
For example, the three members of the Uruguayan Football Association’s normalization committee include a member of the FIFA Governance Committee, a former executive of one of Uruguay’s top clubs, and an economist (the former Secretary of Economic and Financial Affairs at the Uruguayan Football Association). The four members of the Ghanaian Football Association’s normalisation committee include a well-connected businessman known for sponsorship deals for Ghanaian football clubs, a former CEO of a telecommunication network, a lawyer, and a former board member of a Ghanaian football club.
The members of the normalization committee are then confirmed by FIFA’s Bureau of the Council (which deals with all matters requiring immediate attention between two meetings of the Council). FIFA retains the right to add or remove any members of the normalisation committee as it sees fit.
All members of the normalization committee are required to pass an eligibility test in accordance with the Statutes and the FIFA Governance Regulations, which is conducted by the FIFA Review Committee. FIFA describes the content of such eligibility checks as open-ended and vague which require clarification on a case-by-case basis. FIFA aims to make their application as objective and certain as possible. In conducting these checks, the Review Committee has been mindful of the guidelines stemming from decisions taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a small number of cases relevant to the conducting of integrity checks. Standards vary depending on the position for which the eligibility checks are applied, as the CAS has held that the integrity check is an abstract test to assess whether a person is perceived to be a person of integrity for the function at stake. As such, a direct violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics is no prerequisite to a person not passing the integrity check. However, a history of financial impropriety and an involvement in national or local government are severely frowned upon by FIFA.
It is worth noting that the Review Committee does not have any investigatory powers and makes a decision based on the information available to it at the time.
Scope of Powers
The normalisation committee takes over the day-to-day running of the member association whilst drafting new statutes and policies for the association that adhere to the FIFA Statutes and the relevant national law. The new statutes must contain, at a minimum, provisions relating to neutrality in politics and religion, prohibition of discrimination, independence from any political interference, judicial independence and respect of the Laws of the Game.
The normalization committee also organizes and conducts elections for a new executive committee. None of the members of the normalization committee are able to run for any of the vacant positions in the elections. Members of the existing executive committee are required to vacate their posts whilst the normalization committee undergoes its work. If they wish to take up positions in the new executive committee, they are expected to contest the positions in the elections organized by the normalization committee. Potential candidates for the executive committee are required to undergo integrity checks as per the FIFA Code of Ethics, regardless of their previous position, which is carried out by the FIFA Review Committee using the same guidelines as set out above.
FIFA can continue to monitor the member association’s progress by way of a monitoring committee, implemented on a case-by-case basis. The normalization committee remains in place for a specified period of time and will disband when all the required tasks are complete. FIFA has the discretion to extend the relevant period of time for as long as it is required, as in the case of Cameroonian Football Association (FECAFOOT).
It was announced in September 2018 that FECAFOOT’s normalisation committee was making good progress but that certain important tasks had not been completed. Notably, the adoption of statutes ensuring compliance with the Statutes had not been completed, nor had the organization of elections for the new executive committee taken place. As a result, the Bureau of the Council viewed an extension to the normalization committee’s mandate until December 16, 2018 as necessary. There is no limit as to how many times FIFA can extend a normalization committee’s mandate, although it expects the normalization committee to provide a roadmap so that the mandate can be fulfilled in the time provided to it. Similarly, the normalization committee for FEMAFOOT (the Mali Football Association) was extended to October 31, 2018 so that the key aims of revising the statutes, setting up the judicial and conducting transparent elections could be met.
What happens if the member association disputes the appointment?
There are no easily available records of member associations challenging the appointment of a normalisation committee. The Statutes provide that confederations, member associations and leagues shall agree to comply fully with any decision passed by the relevant FIFA bodies which, according to these Statutes, are final and not subject to appeal. Further, member associations are obliged to comply fully with the decisions of FIFA bodies at any time.
Some member associations have attempted to challenge the appointment of a normalisation committee through local judicial means. FIFA tends to respond to these sorts of challenges by promptly suspending the member association until the election of a new executive committee is conducted. For example, FIFA suspended the Benin Football Association (FBF) after a local judicial court approved an injunction to impede the holding of the 2016 presidential election, despite the FBF being overseen by a normalization committee since September 2015.
Member associations have been willing to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on a number of matters involving FIFA, including audit orders (in the case of the Ivory Coast Football Federation) and membership. However, the outcome of such an appeal would be difficult to predict. Whilst the CAS has upheld appeals against FIFA in cases such as the Gibraltar Football Association’s application for FIFA membership, it has also shown a willingness to approve a sports governing body’s intervention in governance matters where necessary – for example the suspension by the IAAF of the All Russia Athletics Federation from IAAF membership35. Any appeal to the CAS would most likely turn on its facts.
Past examples
Whilst normalization committees can achieve FIFA’s desired outcome, there are notable examples which open the process up to criticism for being largely ineffective and for preserving the status quo rather than revitalizing the situation.
The example of Guinea demonstrates how smoothly the normalization committee process is supposed to run, with a relatively quick and positive outcome. Guinea had a normalization committee imposed on it by FIFA in April 2016 following internal wrangles which brought all football competitions in the country to a halt. The normalization committee completed its task 11 months later, with the adoption of a new constitution and the election of a new president in March 201737.
The case of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) is particularly dramatic. FIFA intervened in October 2016 following extensive governance issues including the Greek Sports Ministry’s cancellation of the Greek Cup final in 2016 as well as the postponement of the 2016-2017 season due to a dispute between Greece’s football clubs, the HFF and the government over the selection of referees. FIFA established a normalization committee in October 2016. Elections were held in August 2017, despite threats and an alleged arson attack. The new executive committee is still monitored by FIFA. The normalization committee was criticized for its inclusion of some individuals who could be deemed to have a conflict of interest and links have also been drawn between those implicated in match-fixing cases and their potential influence over referee appointments. It has also been reported that as many as 75% of second-tier games in Greece are showing signs of match-fixing.
The Argentine Football Association was largely leaderless until Luis Segura became president after a suspicious 38-38 vote by a 75 person Congress. Segura was later charged by US authorities with fraudulent administration and FIFA set up a normalization committee in July 2016, which was plagued with issues including a players’ strike for non-payment and postponement of the Argentinian league. Many have criticized the new executive committee. The new President is a former president of a Third Division football club and is joined on the board by the presidents of Boca Juniors and of Independiente. People have unsurprisingly questioned the suitability of the new board members.
Comparisons with other sports
FIFA is not the only organization in pursuit of good governance and it can be suggested that FIFA’s actions complement the wider change of attitude towards governance issues in sport.
Other sports governing bodies have taken steps to intervene where serious issues over governance have been raised – see for example the unprecedented decision in December 2017 by the IOC to withdraw funding from the Association of International Boxing Associations (AIBA). The approach taken by the IOC was different to that taken by FIFA insofar as the IOC suspended funding until it was satisfied that the AIBA had demonstrated sufficient compliance and the IOC has not (yet) stepped into the organization of the AIBA’s affairs.
The IOC has placed other federations under similar scrutinies, such as the International Weightlifting Federation and the International Biathlon Union. Parallels can also be drawn between FIFA’s actions and the IAAF’s decision not to reinstate the Russian Athletics Federation’s membership, yet these governing bodies have not gone as far as FIFA in respect of direct intervention.
Legitimacy of intervention
The protection of the integrity of the game is of utmost importance to FIFA particularly at a time of significant scrutiny (and reform) of its own governance. FIFA’s own governance is in the process of changing, but many have noted that the 2016 reforms did not go far enough – with standards falling far short of those expected of a UK listed company. Whilst normalization committees often have the desired effect of bringing a member association’s governance in line with FIFA’s expectations, the difficulties lie in the determination of what good governance is in the context of a truly global sport.
Further, given the integrity issues historically faced by FIFA, questions could be raised regarding the organization’s role as moral arbiter – perhaps an independent body would be more effective in decisions such as these.
The establishment of a global independent body as a method of oversight of regulatory and governance affairs would be an admirable aim, however, the hurdles of doing so are unlikely to be overcome any time soon. Any independent body would first face the challenge of obtaining sufficient funding to conduct such wide-ranging and extensive work. There would need to be agreement from FIFA’s 211 members as to the mandate of the independent body and people of sufficient expertise would have to be appointed to carry out that mandate. How these independent people would be chosen and the integrity standard to which they would be held is another area of contention – including the question of whether they would be subject to the same integrity checks as currently imposed by FIFA. As we have seen, global governing bodies such as WADA are not immune to criticism, despite broadly being seen as the legitimate and authoritative body for matters within their scope of expertise.
To FIFA’s credit, its assertion of authority over the governance of its member associations cannot be questioned. FIFA has certainly not been afraid to flex its muscles in ensuring its authority is not undermined. For example, a normalization committee was imposed on the Guatemalan Football Association (FEDEFUT) in December 2015 but FIFA announced in 2016 that it was no longer able to operate after a FEDFUT general assembly rejected the normalization committee’s mandate. FIFA promptly responded to this by suspending FEDEFUT. A joint FIFA and CONCACAF mission visited Guatemala and took the decision in May 2018 to appoint another normalization committee. The Chairman of this committee wrote to FIFA confirming that the normalization committee was fully operational. Given the history of normalization committees in FEDEFUT, FIFA took the decision to appoint an International Steering Committee to oversee and monitor the implementation of the normalization committee’s mandate. If this was challenged by FEDEFUT, it would be automatically suspended once again.
Conclusion
These examples of intervention should serve as a stark warning of the significant consequences of corruption within football. FIFA is willing to step into member associations when it considers its position is being undermined, with the suspension of (and subsequent imposition of a normalization committee on) the member association a very likely consequence.
FIFA provides global rules which must be universally applied. These rules were not designed for the purpose of a single situation, which creates challenging situations when applying specific rules to hundreds of countries around the world, each with different ideas of standards of governance. The regulations put in place by FIFA are binding and must be observed at all times by every member association. The compulsory nature of the FIFA regulations flows from the need for FIFA to be able to achieve its objectives as set out in the Statutes.
Although individuals will have varying opinions on FIFA itself, normalization committees have been effective in a number of cases and continue to work as a method of implementation of good governance. Whilst the use of an independent body would be desirable, the status quo is working and FIFA remains the only organization with sufficient authority to enforce such action. FIFA must, however, be alive to criticism in acknowledging its failures and be prepared to monitor member associations, scrutinize the appointments of committee members, and keep a watchful eye over the suitability of candidates for executive committee positions
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WATCH: Former Trinidad and Tobago footballer and ESPN football analyst Shaka Hislop said FIFA's timing to send in a normalisation committee to run Trinidad and Tobago football leaves many questions unanswered.
https://www.youtube.com/v/w398Ojp2Tn0
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I just come to say.....FIFA mudder's c*$%nt!!
:cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :pissedoff: :pissedoff: :pissedoff: :pissedoff: :frustrated: :frustrated: :frustrated: :frustrated: :banginghead: :banginghead: :banginghead: :banginghead: :banginghead: :busshead: :busshead: :busshead:
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The crabs done start to act up.
Pro league say they not supporting any action to fight FIFA decision and ready to work with normalization committee.
So far only Point Fortin Civic Center say they wasn't aware of no Pro League board vote.
Ah setta kiss me arse Uncle Tom's in T&T
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FIFA ‘too big’
CAS not the way to go, says Pro League
Mar 19, 2020
https://trinidadexpress.com/sports/local/fifa-too-big/article_9050c836-6a3d-11ea-b0a0-e763643c5d59.html
The TT Pro League, a board member of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, yesterday issued a statement that it was not in support of the Association fighting world football governing body FIFA in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“We have instructed our representative on the former TTFA Board, Mr. Brent Sancho, that the TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office,” the release, which came late yesterday, said.
The TT Pro League Board is comprised of 11 professional clubs making up the local professional league. Sancho, who is also the owner of Central FC, confirmed the position taken.
“We had a conference call today and the decision was taken,” Sancho said. “We felt that it was not the right decision to go, in terms of going to CAS,” Sancho said.
Trinidad Express checks found that some of the clubs had indeed taken such a position while at least one, Point Fortin Civic, were unaware of such.
“I was not aware of that decision,” stated Civic director Gareston Craig. “I do not know when that meeting took place.”
At least four of the clubs confirmed that they were part of the decision. One official of a prominent club, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that the Pro League had run football independently for 18 years and it had nothing to do with TTFA. As an independent operation, he said, their focus was on developing football without engaging in mudslinging.
Further, the League Board stated that it accepted FIFA’s intervention.
“The Board of the TT Pro League has unanimously accepted the decision by FIFA to establish a Normalisation Committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.
As a football company who have (sic) invested over two hundred million dollars into the national economy over the last 18 years, the TT Pro League stands ready to work alongside the Ministry of Sport and the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee for the continued development of the game.
“At a time when the dreaded coronavirus is taking its toll on the health and economic welfare of the country, on the request of the Minister of Sport, we are sending a proposal by March 31st for rebranding the professional league, use of community fields and developing a proposal for a partnership with FIFA, the Ministry of Sport and Corporate Trinidad and Tobago.
“While we cannot pre-empt any selection by FIFA, we would like to see the Normalisation Committee comprise of (sic) credible non-partisan persons from the local legal, sporting and business sectors. We at the Pro League feel the time for mudslinging, character assassination and egotism in our football must be replaced with a greater resolve to collectively address the challenges ahead.”
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The crabs done start to act up.
Pro league say they not supporting any action to fight FIFA decision and ready to work with normalization committee.
So far only Point Fortin Civic Center say they wasn't aware of no Pro League board vote.
Ah setta kiss me arse Uncle Tom's in T&T
You really expected any different? You forgetting is over 30 years we had to deal with Jackula et al?? Partly because all man jack who was benefit ting from the corruption bend over and took it up de rear.....once dey was getting dey cut, firetruck TnT football!!
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........aaaaaaahhhh boy!! Brent Sancho.....smh.......just smh......
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The Pro League couldn't abide by expertise solicited and rendered by UEFA regarding the T-League, but now it is wiling to suckle at the breast of a barren and infertile FIFA through the guise of a Normalization Committee from which it anticipates benefits? I suppose it would be too optimistic to expect Ms. Julia Baptiste to resign as a matter of principle.
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........aaaaaaahhhh boy!! Brent Sancho.....smh.......just smh......
It could be that he is expressing the league's position rather than his personal position, but as he did not clarify he remains exposed to everything you have stated.
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The Pro League appears willing to be a casualty in this medi. So be it. It was always heading in that direction.
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T&T Pro League supports FIFA takeover
T&T Guardian
The Board of Director of the T&T Pro League has said it unanimously accepted the decision on Tuesday by world governing body for the sport of football Fifa to establish a Normalization Committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the T&T Football Association.
In a release on Thursday following a conference meeting of the board it stated: "The Board of the TT Pro League has unanimously accepted the decision by Fifa to establish a Normalization Committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association.
As a football company who have invested over two hundred million dollars into the national economy over the last 18 years, the TT Pro League stand ready to work alongside the Ministry of Sports and the FIFA appointed Normalization Committee for the continued development of the game.
We have instructed our representative on the former TTFA Board, Mr Brent Sancho, that the TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office."
In a letter dated March 17 to the TTFA general secretary Ramdhan FIFA wrote: Under these serious circumstances, and in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa statutes (which foresees that executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Fifa Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time), the Bureau of the Council decided, on 17 March 2020, to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
Following the news from FIFA, the embattled president William Wallace told the media that he was disappointed by FIFA's action which they considered to be an unjust, unfair and a disrespectful act by the world governing body for football (FIFA) and will turn to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to overturn a decision by FIFA, which on Tuesday appointed a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of T&T football.
William said, "We took a while to get over the shock, it was total disbelief. Since then we have pooled our resources together and have decided that this is injustice, it is disrespect, it shows some political play going on here to protect, I don't know who, but clearly, this is unprecedented when you look at what those committees are set up to do. It is in cases of political interference, political turmoil, democratic processes such as elections. Our elections were supervised by the FIFA and CONCACAF, so there were no issues with the elections, but now they are saying because of the same financial deficiency that we pointed out to them when they were here, they are now using that as a reason, but we have gone beyond that, we have put things in place."
The Pro League release continued: At a time when the dreaded coronavirus is taking its toll on the health and economic welfare of the country, on the request of the Minister of Sports we are sending a proposal by March 31st for rebranding the professional league, use of community fields and developing a proposal for a partnership with FIFA, the Ministry of Sport and Corporate Trinidad and Tobago. A plan aimed at addressing the economic, social and sporting needs of the national and regional community.
While we cannot pre-empt any selection by FIFA we would like to see the Normalization Committee comprise of credible non-partisan persons from the local legal, sporting and business sector. We at the Pro League feel the time for mudslinging, character assassinations and egotism in our football must be replaced with a greater resolve to collectively address the challenges ahead."
RELATED NEWS
Sancho supports Fifa normalisation committee, urges ‘former TTFA board’ not to fight back.
Wired868
“[…] We have instructed our representative on the former TTFA Board, Mr Brent Sancho, that the TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office…”
The TT Pro League, via a press statement, has distanced itself from Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his team and support Fifa’s decision to send in a normalisation committee to run the affairs of the local football body.
In a separate radio interview this evening on i95.5FM, Pro League chairman Brent Sancho declared that he was fully behind Fifa’s controversial decision, which his former 2006 World Cup teammate Shaka Hislop described as a betrayal of the local game.
The following is the TT Pro League statement, which was not sent to Wired868:
The Board of the TT Pro League has unanimously accepted the decision by Fifa to establish a normalisation committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.
As a football company who have invested over two hundred million dollars into the national economy over the last 18 years, the TT Pro League stand ready to work alongside the Ministry of Sports and the FIFA appointed normalisation committee for the continued development of the game.
We have instructed our representative on the former TTFA Board, Mr Brent Sancho, that the TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office.
At a time when the dreaded coronavirus is taking its toll on the health and economic welfare of the country, on the request of the Minister of Sports, we are sending a proposal by 31st March for rebranding the professional league, use of community fields and developing a proposal for a partnership with FIFA, the Ministry of Sport and corporate Trinidad and Tobago. A plan aimed at addressing the economic, social and sporting needs of the national and regional community.
While we cannot pre-empt any selection by FIFA, we would like to see the normalisation committee comprise of credible non-partisan persons from the local legal, sporting and business sector.
We at the Pro League feel the time for mudslinging, character assassinations and egotism in our football must be replaced with a greater resolve to collectively address the challenges ahead.
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Brent Brent Brent what is yuh real position on this whole ting ? Take ah deep breath and explain yuh position hoss ! The pro league and you already break ah link in the chain already Brent ! Oh gosh nah boi something wrong wid we yes ! That is one of the reasons Fifa and its suspect characters feel they can manipulate and do whatever they want ! Take that and smoke it Brent !
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That Pro League statement is the footballing equivalent of this article
https://www.thecut.com/2015/07/what-open-marriage-taught-one-man-about-feminism.html
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........aaaaaaahhhh boy!! Brent Sancho.....smh.......just smh......
are you really surprised by anything him and latapy does? that guy showed his colors when he became the minister of sports and spiralled out of control when he became a politician. brent sancho IMO is a creep who's seeking his own interest. these people in trinidad and tobago don't really love that country.
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yes man society, what else is new.
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T&T Pro League supports FIFA takeover
T&T Guardian
The Board of Director of the T&T Pro League has said it unanimously accepted the decision on Tuesday by world governing body for the sport of football Fifa to establish a Normalization Committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the T&T Football Association.
In a release on Thursday following a conference meeting of the board it stated: "The Board of the TT Pro League has unanimously accepted the decision by Fifa to establish a Normalization Committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association.
As a football company who have invested over two hundred million dollars into the national economy over the last 18 years, the TT Pro League stand ready to work alongside the Ministry of Sports and the FIFA appointed Normalization Committee for the continued development of the game.
We have instructed our representative on the former TTFA Board, Mr Brent Sancho, that the TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office."
In a letter dated March 17 to the TTFA general secretary Ramdhan FIFA wrote: Under these serious circumstances, and in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa statutes (which foresees that executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Fifa Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time), the Bureau of the Council decided, on 17 March 2020, to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
Following the news from FIFA, the embattled president William Wallace told the media that he was disappointed by FIFA's action which they considered to be an unjust, unfair and a disrespectful act by the world governing body for football (FIFA) and will turn to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to overturn a decision by FIFA, which on Tuesday appointed a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of T&T football.
William said, "We took a while to get over the shock, it was total disbelief. Since then we have pooled our resources together and have decided that this is injustice, it is disrespect, it shows some political play going on here to protect, I don't know who, but clearly, this is unprecedented when you look at what those committees are set up to do. It is in cases of political interference, political turmoil, democratic processes such as elections. Our elections were supervised by the FIFA and CONCACAF, so there were no issues with the elections, but now they are saying because of the same financial deficiency that we pointed out to them when they were here, they are now using that as a reason, but we have gone beyond that, we have put things in place."
The Pro League release continued: At a time when the dreaded coronavirus is taking its toll on the health and economic welfare of the country, on the request of the Minister of Sports we are sending a proposal by March 31st for rebranding the professional league, use of community fields and developing a proposal for a partnership with FIFA, the Ministry of Sport and Corporate Trinidad and Tobago. A plan aimed at addressing the economic, social and sporting needs of the national and regional community.
While we cannot pre-empt any selection by FIFA we would like to see the Normalization Committee comprise of credible non-partisan persons from the local legal, sporting and business sector. We at the Pro League feel the time for mudslinging, character assassinations and egotism in our football must be replaced with a greater resolve to collectively address the challenges ahead."
So essentially they support corruption, collusion, being in the “House” and selling out which would further debilitate our football and in essence kill our wc campaign, our recent player selections etc...
But there’s only one good thing about this, it exposes who is in the “House”... and who to watch out for in times like this...
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Brent sancho Time and time again has shown what his true character is by abandoning and jumping ship when it suits him it's incredible ! I am not one bit surprised at all .
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Okay, this is what somebody posted on a DMV( DC) chat. He heard that somebody we know very well wrote a letter and blow the whistle after the very contentious meeting that TTFA had the other day. Is this true or not ?
Huh?
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Here nah it have some real yellow belly in Trinidad. If we fight back against Fifa. What they go do? Ban we from international ball? Well, it have no ball playing for the near future.
Ah next thing is under the last admin we ent play no woman football, we ent participate in Olympic qualifiers, we club teams ent participate in concacaf tournaments. We national team ent play any home games. We might as well didn't play no games at all as far as I concerned and DJW and dem still get 20 votes in the election! What??!!
Now allyuh fraid to band allyuh belly. Newsflash: We been in a famine.
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Here nah it have some real yellow belly in Trinidad. If we fight back against Fifa. What they go do? Ban we from international ball? Well, it have no ball playing for the near future.
Ah next thing is under the last admin we ent play no woman football, we ent participate in Olympic qualifiers, we club teams ent participate in concacaf tournaments. We national team ent play any home games. We might as well didn't play no games at all as far as I concerned and DJW and dem still get 20 votes in the election! What??!!
Now allyuh fraid to band allyuh belly. Newsflash: We been in a famine.
We've been in a famine but dem fellas have been eating dey food. Some in small portions, some in larger ones and some so fast because they had other portions en route.
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Hislop: FIFA's takeover of T&T football a coup.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Former national and English Premiership goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has joined the chorus of football stakeholders that have labelled FIFA's implementation of a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of T&T football, as a Coup.
On Monday, the FIFA on its website, said it had enforced article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes and has scrapped the less-than-four-months old TTFA duly elected administration led by William Wallace, and has replaced it with a normalization committee, a move that has left stakeholders disappointed, claims of being disrespected and embarrassed.
On Tuesday (March 17) FIFA wrote the TTFA general Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan detailing FIFA's decision based on its findings from its visit in February and placed TTFA's accountant Tyril Patrick in charge of the organisation's affairs until FIFA officials arrive to take over.
Wallace who leads the embattled football association which is said to be $50 million in debt, is now leading a fight-back of the FIFA decision, through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
On Thursday, Shaka, who was interviewed via skype on CNC3 Morning Shot sports programme, said there was no other way to frame or phrase the move by FIFA other than a coup. “There is not a lot that Jack Warner and I agree on but I agree with his sentiments on what happened, why it happened and I continue to question the timing of it. T&T football, be it the Football Federation or the Football Association has been laboured with this debt ever since the Jack Warner administration, and he left power back in 2010/2011, why you wait until some 10 years to install a normalisation committee into our football, it's beyond me. And all signs point to only one thing is that both the FIFA hierarchy and the CONCACAF leadership were in favour of the David John- Williams administration. Now you have to question why that is, you can speculate but I have my feeling about it, but you don't overturn a legal, democratic election because you are disappointed that your man on the inside lost.”
Keith Look Loy, the chairman of the Technical Committee of the Wallace-led administration also told the media on Tuesday that: This is my view, is an attempted coup d'etat by FIFA to remove a democratically elected administration, an administration that was elected by the will of the football community."
John-Williams was beaten in a hotly contested race for the TTFA presidency on November 24 last year by Wallace 26 votes to 20 at the now controversial Home of Football in Balmain, Couva, to lead a total sweep for his United TTFA. Wallace and his team of Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick have since exposed the flaws on the Couva football home despite public approvals by the FIFA and its president, in particular, Gianni Infantino, who was among one of the dignitaries which also included T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Sports Minister Shamfa Cudjoe to officially open the Home of Football in November.
Wallace and his team have also revealed the rising debt of the John-Williams-led administration (TTFA) which now stands at $50 million, and have laid out a detailed plan of how they intended to clear the existing debt and set the sport back on stable footing before a FIFA/CONCACAF Finance team two weeks ago via a uniform deal with Avec signed in February.
However, following the audit visit by a FIFA/CONCACAF team of financial experts who Ramesh Ramdhan, the TTTFA general secretary said gave the organisation the impression it was satisfied with what they saw, the move on March 17 means it was not. This coincidentally was the basis on which the normalisation committee was sent to T&T.
A disappointed Hislop said: “FIFA in their monopoly of the world's game, continue to decide who runs individual member associations, that hasn't changed and as much as the names on the doors have changed, both within the CONCACAF and the FIFA, it's business as usual, as was done some 15 or 20 years ago.”
He noted: “There is no doubt in my mind that the removal of this current administration accomplishes a couple of goals. One, it would reinstall an administration into T&T football of somebody that they feel will continue their agenda and put the agenda of CONCACAF and FIFA above that of T&T football. It also sends a very loud message across the Caribbean who continue to be reliant on FIFA funding, if you don't do what we say, or if you don't install who we want then we will take action accordingly.”
The former Newcastle United custodian who is now an ESPN Analyst said he hopes the TTFA can win against the FIFA legally, but noted that if they (TTFA) does, because of the mechanisms within FIFA football and how it is controlled, the TTFA could find red tape in their way in the future. According to Hislop, FIFA knows that many small nations cannot stand alone without their funding.
Wallace has also indicated to the media on Wednesday that the TTFA will challenge FIFA's action via the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland.
Shaka Hislop: FIFA timing very suspicious (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w398Ojp2Tn0&feature=emb_title)
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Look Loy vs Kevin Harrison on facebook.
Keith Look Loy This is outright misinformation. LH Rangers, Club Sando, TTDF and TTPS did not support this nonsense. It is hardly unanimous. This is just another effort by the usual shameless beggars, led by Sancho, who are sniffing an opportunity to snatch some free money. They think.
Kevin Harrison frankly, I’m amazed that they allowed you to sit in on their board meeting. Or is it you who is placing the misinformation? As I know for a fact that at least one of the clubs mentioned did in fact support the motion.
Keith Look Loy Then the owners/directors lying. TTDF did not support. TTPS was not represented. Club Sando and Rangers did not support.
Kevin Harrison do you not understand that Sancho’s role is to comment on pro league decisions?
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It is in the public domain that DJW used the word "unanimously" loosely in his then capacity as TTFA president. Refer to the press conference during which Selby Browne corrected his usage of the word "unanimously" to describe circumstances that were anything but unanimous. Clearly, under that view unanimous action and unanimity refer only to those views or opinions or decisions or actions that matter to convenience (at the cheap dismissal and exclusion of other viewpoints.)
Aside from that press conference, there were other references to unanimity that were subsequently found wanting and invented. Cue Ms. Joanne Salazar who was represented as having contributed to 'unanimous decisions' that she did not contribute to.
Another word to look out for soon is "unilateral". It will be instructive in representing FIFA/CONCACAF's fact-finding visit as merely a formulaic step/precursor to an already decided conclusion to undermine a democratic process that they themselves vetted.
Therefore, it is not surprising that claims of unanimity are being bantered about despite the lack of consensus as to its existence.
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The Government will soon follow suit,FIFA cyah move them though. ;D ;D ;D
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Fellow forumites please take a read of a letter/ communique on wired 868 that was sent to Fifa and pre dates Fifa's supposed takeover of Tffa , you all can draw your own conclusions after reading!
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........aaaaaaahhhh boy!! Brent Sancho.....smh.......just smh......
are you really surprised by anything him and latapy does? that guy showed his colors when he became the minister of sports and spiralled out of control when he became a politician. brent sancho IMO is a creep who's seeking his own interest. these people in trinidad and tobago don't really love that country.
No, I'm not surprised. Not after he sold out for a Ministry and a seat under the UNC......
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Fellow forumites please take a read of a letter/ communique on wired 868 that was sent to Fifa and pre dates Fifa's supposed takeover of Tffa , you all can draw your own conclusions after reading!
They bounce they head ah tell allyuh. Give dem jam!!
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Question: What do Abu Bakr, Jack Warner, Calder Hart and Brent Sancho have in common?
Answer: They're all treacherous, slimey, odious, self serving POS.
He and he padna Harrison can f**k right off!
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CFU Boss: T&T's challenge to FIFA takeover likely to fail
T&T Guardian
President of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Randy Harris says while the decision by FIFA to take over the administration of football in Trinidad and Tobago is unfortunate, an appeal against the move is likely to be unsuccessful.
While the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and others in the local football community have described as a coup, the plan by the world governing body for the sport to replace the board with a normalisation committee, Harris said FIFA was acting within the rules that all member associations (MAs) have agreed to play by.
TTFA president William Wallace announced Wednesday that the association has mounted a challenge to FIFA’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
He questioned why such drastic action was taken, considering no such move was made against the David John-Williams-led administration from which his executive inherited a TT$50 million (US$7.4 million) debt when it took over last November.
“This is a very unfortunate situation because we have a duly elected body of members to run the T&TFA,” Harris told Andre Errol Baptiste on I955 FM’s ISports radio show on Thursday. “The Trinidad and Tobago FA has found itself in a sad situation which all of us in the Caribbean could be in tomorrow.”
However, he said, an appeal would be an expensive option that had little chance of success.
“In this particular situation – in my view, based on my experience – it would be very, very difficult to win a case such as this because FIFA has a right to decide when they will introduce normalisation. If you read the statutes, basically we all agree to play under the statues of FIFA,” Harris contended.
FIFA said Wednesday that it was going the normalisation route because an assessment it carried out in conjunction with continental governing body, CONCACAF, found extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt that resulted in the TTFA facing “a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.
Harris noted that given the TTFA’s financial situation, it would be difficult for it to adequately administer football in the twin-island republic.
Against that background, he reiterated the need for the Caribbean to develop the sport so associations could all become self-sufficient and not have to depend on FIFA money.
“You can’t have it both ways…. The funds that FIFA is allotting to us is not a right, it is a privilege. FIFFA can get a president next week that decides that that is not the position that FIFA will take in the future. What will we do in the Caribbean?” he questioned.
“We need to get together and we need to work together to ensure that we develop football properly. Yes, we are individual MAs, but when it comes to education in the game, development in the game, searching for sponsorship, we need to get together and bring our numbers together.”
FIFA’s normalisation committee will have up to two years to carry out its work, including creating a debt repayment plan which the TTFA can implement, reviewing the local governing body’s statutes and ensuring their adherence to FIFA regulations, and overseeing new elections.
Until the committee is operational, FIFA has selected accountant Tyril Patrick, who is linked to the previous TTFA regime, to be in charge.
That move have also been questioned by Wallace who said expressed concern that Patrick had been “part of an administration that was part of a regime that led to the collapse of the association”.
In an interview on CNC3 TV online, former Trinidad and Tobago international goalkeeper and ESPN television analyst Neil Shaka Hislop said FIFA’s actions were “disingenuous and self-serving”.
“You do not install the accountant that oversaw the finances of the previous administration — that were there for the last four years while that debt mushroomed — as the interim in running our financial affairs,” Hislop said.
“Why you wait until some 10 years to install a normalisation committee into our football is beyond me. And all signs point to only one thing — that both the FIFA hierarchy and the CONCACAF leadership were in favour of the David John-Williams administration. Now, you have to question why that is, you can speculate, but I have my feeling about it, but you don’t overturn a legal, democratic election because you are disappointed that your man on the inside lost.”
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Chairman of the T&T Pro League Brent Sancho believes the T&T Pro League took the responsible decision when it came to supporting FIFA's choice to set-up a normalisation committee. (https://www.tv6tnt.com/news/7pmnews/pro-league-backs-normilisation-committee/article_5899bcd0-6b10-11ea-91a2-c70a9ee16b68.html) He believes it will lead to a better structure towards stability in the long term. He also thinks the TTFA's choice to challenge the setting up of a committee may likely lead to further repercussions by FIFA which he feels could damage the sport in Trinidad and Tobago.
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Hear nah ah really fed up with dis Brent sancho and he surrogates oui ! Instead of lending support to the current administration in their fight against an Grossly unjustifiable act by Fifa . He ( sancho and the pro league ) jump out de gates ready to hand support to Fifa / infantino along with he gangsters ! Look dat man sancho is a real chien oui ! I hereby fully support president mr William Wallace in current stance . Keep yuh head up mr president William Wallace !
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Tyril Patrick turns down the position as temporary head of TTFA.
Interesting turn of events. Maybe he have some principles.
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Interesting indeed , very interesting !
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Tyril Patrick turns down the position as temporary head of TTFA.
Interesting turn of events. Maybe he have some principles fear.
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Hear nah ah really fed up with dis Brent sancho and he surrogates oui ! Instead of lending support to the current administration in their fight against an Grossly unjustifiable act by Fifa . He ( sancho and the pro league ) jump out de gates ready to hand support to Fifa / infantino along with he gangsters ! Look dat man sancho is a real chien oui ! I hereby fully support president mr William Wallace in current stance . Keep yuh head up mr president William Wallace !
mean while he didn't feel that way when he lead the charge to oppose jack warner for world cup monies even though he and the rest of the team got a million dollars each from the government.
and that move crippled TT football for almost a decade to the point now we can't even recover because the TTFA had to pay sancho and the rest of the claimants. thank god this fella never ran for any football administrative positions. he's a pure backside.
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Tyril Patrick turns down the position as temporary head of TTFA.
Interesting turn of events. Maybe he have some principles.
i doubt it was about principle, i am more leaning towards personal interest, who know maybe hgis life was threatened, but i seriously doubt he suddenly grew a conscience.
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Fear and self-preservation could be a guiding principle too
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Time to consider who FIFA will propose next.
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Time to consider who FIFA will propose next.
Kenny Rampersad ? :devil:
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Chairman of the T&T Pro League Brent Sancho believes the T&T Pro League took the responsible decision when it came to supporting FIFA's choice to set-up a normalisation committee. (https://www.tv6tnt.com/news/7pmnews/pro-league-backs-normilisation-committee/article_5899bcd0-6b10-11ea-91a2-c70a9ee16b68.html) He believes it will lead to a better structure towards stability in the long term. He also thinks the TTFA's choice to challenge the setting up of a committee may likely lead to further repercussions by FIFA which he feels could damage the sport in Trinidad and Tobago.
Posturing and pirouetting. Lipstick 💄 💋 on a pig 🐷 doh improve de pork.
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Every turn you take...there are parasites waitng for you..m :banginghead:
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Patrick steps down after legal threats from TTFA lawyers
By Ryan Bachoo (T&T Guardian)
A dramatic week in T&T football ended with FIFA appointed supervisor Tyril Patrick writing to the global governing body on Saturday and turning down the position to run domestic football affairs until the FIFA appointed normalization committee is named and assembled. This came less than 24 hours after the T&T Football Association’s (TTFA) legal team led by Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne wrote to Patrick on Friday in a final warning in a letter threatening legal action.
The three-page legal letter signed by Gayle, obtained by Guardian Media Sports told Patrick, the current TTFA Finance manager, “the constitution of the TTFA makes no allowance for the appointment of yourself or any other person to ‘oversee’ the day to day affairs of the TTFA as the FIFA letter purports.”
In saying that the FIFA letter, which asked Patrick to oversee the day to day running of local football, is of no legal effect, the TTFA’s lawyers also threatened to return force should there be any repercussions to local football. “Any attempts to hold football in Trinidad to ransom with threats of further and/or more punitive steps will also be met with forceful resistance by those who have retained us,” the legal letter read. It called upon the TTFA finance officer to distance himself from taking further steps towards acting on his FIFA appointment.
FIFA's letter from Secretary General Fatma Samoura stated: Under these serious circumstances, and in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa statutes (which foresees that executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Fifa Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time), the Bureau of the Council decided, on March 17, to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
While Patrick was given until 8 am on Monday to respond, he wrote on Saturday morning to the TTFA’s attorney stating, “I would like to confirm via this email that I am no longer the interim manager at TTFA. I am no longer accepting the appointment and I have informed FIFA of my decision.”
His decision was lauded by former FIFA vice president Jack Warner who told Guardian Media Sports FIFA was out to use Patrick. Warner said, “I think what Patrick did, in my humble view, is the respectful thing of not taking up FIFA’s bait and allowing himself to be used and I admire the young man. I don’t know him, but I admire him now more than ever because he refused to allow himself to be a pawn or a tool to be used by FIFA and their agents.”
Patrick’s rescinding of the appointment left the question as to who would run the daily affairs of the TTFA after a dramatic week which saw FIFA disband the local governing body via letter dated March 17, and addressed to the TTHFA's general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan in its move towards installing a normalization committee.
Ramdhan confirmed to Guardian Media Sports yesterday that he can go to the office because he was not removed by FIFA. The elected members along with the board of the TTFA were removed. Ramdhan is the head of the secretariat and had been told to report to Patrick by the FIFA but he refrained from doing so.
Less than a day after the announcement was made by the FIFA that it was sending in a normalization committee, the TTFA president William Wallace announced on Wednesday that it was taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Wallace said on Wednesday that, "We took a while to get over the shock, it was total disbelief. Since then we have pooled our resources together and have decided that this is injustice, it is disrespect, it shows some political play going on here to protect, I don't know who, but clearly, this is unprecedented when you look at what those committees are set up to do. It is in cases of political interference, political turmoil, democratic processes such as elections. Our elections were supervised by the FIFA and CONCACAF, so there were no issues with the elections, but now they are saying because of the same financial deficiency that we pointed out to them when they were here, they are now using that as a reason, but we have gone beyond that, we have put things in place."
Ramdhan said certain procedures needed to take place before the matter reached CAS. After the TTFA issued a letter to the FIFA this week, it is understood the local body was not happy with its response and has since written to the FIFA once again, giving them until 8:30am on Monday to respond.
Ramdhan said, “We have to follow certain protocols before we take the matter to CAS. We were not satisfied with FIFA’s response after they took three days, so we have again written them and asked them to deal with the substantive matter of the letter.” The formal proceedings to take the matter to CAS could start as early as tomorrow judging on FIFA’s response to the TTFA.
Gayle's letter also stated that: "The proper membership of the executive of the TTFA therefore consists of the following persons: William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Joseph Sam-Phillip, Kieron Edwards, Richard Quan Chan, Rayshawn Mars, Desmond Alfred, Dwayne Thomas, Brent Sancho, Jamyila Muhammad, Phullip Fraser, Joseph Taylor, Keith Look Loy (colectively the "Duly Elected Executive).
As such, the normalization committee was appointed to run the TTFA’s daily affairs, establish a debt repayment plan, review and amend the TTFA Statutes to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
On March 15, the TTFA closed its office and told staff to stay at home for one week because of the Covid-19 pandemic and report to work on March 23. A decision was also taken to suspend all national football team training and screening sessions until further notice.
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WATCH: AC Port of Spain's Michael Awai calls for common sense to prevail and help solve the rift between the TTFA and FIFA.
https://www.youtube.com/v/_LQdu3AGkow
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Former GFF normalisation chairman Clinton Urling: T&T football will benefit
By Gyasi Merrique (T&T Guardian)
Former chairman of the 2014 FIFA Normalisation Committee appointed in Guyana, Clinton Urling, says that there are some things certainly not normal about FIFA’s recent takeover of the T&T Football Association (TTFA).
In an extensive interview with Guardian Media Sports on Friday, Urling drew attention to the fact that FIFA had appointed the TTFA’s Finance manager, Tyril Patrick, as interim manager of the organisation.
“They have to do exactly what they did in Guyana’s case. You have to bring impartial voices, impartial vision to this matter to bare. Folks who have not been a part of the problem for want of a better word,” said Urling.
Patrick has since declined FIFA’s offer having been advised by the legal representatives of the disbanded administration not to accept FIFA’s request.
A source within the TTFA has confirmed that Patrick has been the association’s financial manager for at least the last three years, hired in 2017 under former president David John-Williams, who was replaced on November 24.
Upon entering office, new TTFA president William Wallace and his administration claimed to have found over TT$50 million dollars in debt incurred by their predecessors.
In T&T’s case, FIFA noted with great concern that a recent fact-finding visit “to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA”, uncovered “extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.”
FIFA concluded that the situation required that corrective measures be applied with urgency.
Wallace’s administration has since vociferously claimed that well before that FIFA/CONCACAF fact-finding team arrived in February, it acknowledged and addressed the association’s lack of financial best practices in writing to FIFA, emphasising that these deficiencies existed before he was voted into office. On arriving in T&T, the visiting contingent was presented with a detailed audit of the accounts as well as what the new TTFA called a detailed debt-eradication proposal to fix the situation.
Urling also noted that while FIFA possesses broad powers to intervene in the administrative affairs of any member association under “exceptional circumstances”, he questions FIFA’s timing with respect to T&T.
“I know FIFA has the authority to set up these normalisation committees and article 8.2 gives them broad powers to do it. Sometimes we forget that the member associations are creatures of FIFA and the member association succumbs to the rules and regulations of the statutes of FIFA,” Urling said, before adding, “But what I’ve read that for me seems to be an anomaly, is that the Trinidad federation recently held elections and a new body took over.
“I assume that FIFA would have given that new body a year or so to assess the situation and see if the situation was getting better. So, I don’t know if a normalisation committee was warranted in this case.”
Whenever FIFA sees a need to intervene in the administrative affairs of one of its member associations, it almost always cites one or a combination of two statutes which guide the operations of all its affiliate members.
Article 8 of FIFA’s statutes, in accordance with which it made its decision to descend upon the TTFA on March 17, is thought to deal specifically with the conduct of bodies, officials and others.
The FIFA Council’s email correspondence from its secretary general Fatma Samoura to the TTFA, more specifically cited paragraph two of Article 8, which states that once FIFA deems that ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist within any member association’s execution of its business, it is well within its right to remove the executive of that association and install a normalisation committee.
FIFA Statutes – General Provisions
1 All bodies and officials must observe the Statutes, regulations, decisions and Code of Ethics of FIFA in their activities.
2 Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.
3 Every person and organisation involved in the game of football is obliged to observe the Statutes and regulations of FIFA as well as the principles of fair play. Nine official languages.
Of the ten or more times that FIFA has appointed normalisation committees in member association countries within the last five years, it has more often than not, wielded either Articles 8 or 14 as its rod of correction.
Where the circumstances are more egregious, that is, where constitutional or political discrepancies exist, FIFA can take similar action in accordance with another piece of literature, Article 14 paragraph 1(a).
FIFA Statutes – Membership
1 Member associations have the following obligations:
a) to comply fully with the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA bodies at any time as well as the decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) passed on appeal on the basis of Article 57 paragraph 1 of the FIFA Statutes.
It is instructive to note that, while neither of these articles defines exactly what may dictate FIFA’s action, only when that action is taken does the Council usually outline what prompted it.
FIFA’s reliance on this Normalisation Committee remedy has become more and more apparent within recent times. In fact, within the past ten years, there have been more than a dozen cases around the world. A quick study of some of these cases suggests that there is no real consistency to the circumstances pre-dating the set-up of bodies tasked with normalisation and or reform.
However, in most of the instances where FIFA draws upon Articles 14.1 (a) in particular, there usually seems to be instances of political unrest or interference, constitutional collapse or electoral manipulation within the member association.
FIFA in Ghana, Egypt, Uruguay
For example, when a normalisation committee was appointed in Ghana in August 2018 it was as a result of rampant corruption throughout the hierarchy of the Ghana Football Association with charges against several members including the then president of the association.
In August 2019 in Egypt, a normalisation committee was appointed to steer the Egyptian FA following the sudden resignation of its entire board after that country’s elimination from the African Cup of Nations.
And after a FIFA committee was appointed in Uruguay in August 2018, it was in response to, “particularly the fact that the electoral process for the position of AUF president is not in accordance with the requirements of transparency as outlined in the FIFA and CONMEBOL statutes.”
FIFA’s NC functions as the receiver
Urling, a Guyanese entrepreneur and business owner, noted that no two cases may be identical to T&T’s, or Guyana’s situation at the time of his appointment in 2014 on a two-year mandate but he stated that the work of any normalisation committee is generally a standard operation.
“When the normalisation committee comes in, it functions as the receiver in accounting terms. The head of that committee he or she assumes the role as the CEO of the association or what you all an Executive Director to ensure that the organisation runs in a certain way and sets up systems and processes which are what the new executive will inherit.”
In Guyana, constitutionally due elections had repeatedly been delayed as in-fighting within the various levels of football administration took hold. His normalisation committee apart from managing the day-to-day running of the country’s football was tasked with amending the then constitution of the GFF one and to organise elections according to the new constitution.
Constitutional reform will form a part of the TTFA’s normalisation committee and the overall mandate does not differ significantly.
FIFA has tasked it with the following:
- to run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
- to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
- to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
TTFA faces ban from FIFA family
Having also taken issue with some of FIFA’s decisions and even going as far as to question the political motive of FIFA, former FIFA vice president Jack Warner told Guardian Media Sports that the development was still an indictment on the state of football in the country. Warner stated that it was the lowest point for the sport and “the end of the rope”.
Urling agrees but says that the situation should not be looked upon as all doom and gloom.
“It’s the point before the same FIFA says ‘you are no longer a part of the FIFA family’ or bans the entire member association. But I think the normalisation committee throughout T&T should be seen as an opportunity, a hope that things could and will get better.
“If you look at Guyana now, you see a federation that’s flourishing. You still see some pockets of issues obviously but the whole organisation turned around and I think for T&T a similar occurrence will or could happen.”
Re-iterating that it is FIFA’s general practice to appoint persons with no close ties to the sport or the particular issues facing it, Urling forewarned against any deviation from the norm.
“It is essential that individuals are selected that the entire football fraternity has trust in, believes in their management competencies and capabilities.”
He added that once the committee operates transparently with regular input from all of the sport’s stakeholders across the entire normalisation process, football should be the winner at the end of FIFA’s prescribed period of engagement.
“Even the executive body that just got replaced has a chance to come back at the end of the normalisation process. As much as they may think that the process is unfair, support the process, maybe in a year or two let’s say the same group runs again and wins again, they come into a situation where there are new processes in place and without that noose of debt around their neck. They can say ‘give us a chance, we did not lose the last election and were not replaced because we weren’t the problem.”
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“If you look at Guyana now, you see a federation that’s flourishing. You still see some pockets of issues obviously but the whole organisation turned around and I think for T&T a similar occurrence will or could happen.”
Let me just say that this is complete bullshit, the GFF is an absolute trainwreck. A few years ago they presented this 5 year plan, despite being broke. So far, none of it has come to fruition.
https://www.stabroeknews.com/2017/05/27/sports/gff-present-five-year-strategic-plan-todays-congress/
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=285618398916605&external_log_id=541f14c00ae3fe767d0eb53d5f250956
The GFF completely bankrupted itself to get to the Gold Cup by using almost all foreign-born players, and still needed a clerical error by Barbados to do so. They were so bankrupt that they had to cut their domestic league season in half (90 matches reduced to 45), and at the end were playing these domestic league matches on their own GFF pitch in the middle of the day during the week, because they apparently didn't have the money to use the community pitches around the country that they usually use. On top of that, they do not regularly hold the domestic league and, even pre-corona virus, it had been over a year since the previous league season had started.
To top it off, as I pointed out at the time, Guyana finished their Gold Cup with less Guyana-born players on the pitch than their opponent that day -- as T&T had Aubrey David on the pitch at the time. They may well have made their money back in Gold Cup revenue, but so far it hasn't shown domestically. But I guess in this clown's estimation, that is flourishing.
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i'm very wary of this guyanese bloke, i think he's in someone's pocket as you can't trust none of these hungry third world people as we see with our own football fraternity who's pleading for cooler heads and working with fifa for the greater good, but what greater good could come from an obvious coup?
i say the only chance we have is to take them to court and even though some said it would make things worst, but in my opinion nothing could be worst than the last three years under mad man DJW the sell out saboteur.
there is a very old saying that we're all familiar with, there's a first time for everything, and just maybe we could be the classic case for the books like rove vs wade, and our case could set the precedent for the world to follow. so i say go for broke, and if we lose appeal, and if we lose that then to hell with it, bring on the ban.
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Guyana is a bloody basket case, it's almost a poster for what we don't want. Their league is a shambles, sometimes propped up by local big men playing/actually being a politician.
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Guyana is a bloody basket case, it's almost a poster for what we don't want. Their league is a shambles, sometimes propped up by local big men playing/actually being a politician.
I think you're thinking of Ronnie Brunswijk in Suriname, all of the match data from Guyana is online from the past couple of seasons (sadly putting Pro League to shame) and I am unaware of any cases of this there...but regardless it is very much a shambles off the pitch.
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WATCH: AC Port of Spain's Michael Awai calls for common sense to prevail and help solve the rift between the TTFA and FIFA.
https://www.youtube.com/v/_LQdu3AGkow
did anybody listen to this arrogant clueless bastard calling the normalization a welcome intervention, can you believe these people?? no wonder steven hart got fired with not as much as a media frenzy.
as it stands I’m not surprised this fat pig bastard could have walked into the administration and turned every thing topsey turvey and still gain 20 votes in the last election, I’m sure this awai fella voted for the fat boss. the people with a say in that country is very mentally unstable and purposefully destructive, and if left unchecked would mash up Trinidad and Tobago with their madness.
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TTFA gets outstanding support from members
By Walter Alibey & Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian)
The T&T Football Association's (TTFA) stance to fight against the implementation of a Normalisation Committee to govern the sport of football here is being supported by some of its members.
On Monday, the embattled football association which is led by William Wallace was bombarded by letters of support from the Northern Football Association, the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), of which Wallace was once the president, the T&T Super League, the T&T Football Referees Association (T&TFRA) and the T&T American Youth Soccer Organization (TTAYSO).
However, some members of the Super League camp, which is being represented by TTFA board member Keith Look Loy, said they are not in support of the football association stance to go against, the world governing body for the sport- FIFA which issued a letter last Tuesday (March 17) indicating that the elected officers have been removed from office and it will send a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football which has been struggling with mounting debt and it appears there's no solution of solving it.
However, president Wallace and his executive which was elected into office on November 24, 2019, has hired attorneys Matthew G W Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne to challenged the decision and file a pre-action protocol in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland.
This new development has led to mixed views from different quarters of the public, including the members of the Super League, who on Monday made it clear of where the League's support lies.
However, Randy Hagley, the Guaya United founder and managing director and Derek Edwards, the Petit Valley Diego Martin United manager, both said they found out about the letter after it was written and sent by Super League secretary Peter Thomas.
Both football administrators have since called for the letter highlighting the names of the teams that support the TTFA to be published for all to see, noting that there were lots of Super League clubs that do not support the TTFA stance.
Edwards, who for years has been a critic of the leadership style of Look Loy, the current Chairman of the Technical Committee and the TTSL representative on the Board of Directors of the TTFA, told Guardian Media Sports that the normalization committee is the only way to get T&T football back on track, saying the problem of the high debt has plagued the sport for many years and the normalization committee is the only way to solve the problem.
He also called for the letter of support to be pulled back and let clubs sign a petition to show those who support the TTFA and those that don't. The pair lack of support follows that of the T&T Pro League letter on Thursday which made it clear and advised its Board member Brent Sancho, that the clubs are in support of FIFA's normalisation committee.
Meanwhile, a letter sent by the NFA and signed by president Anthony Harford on Monday said: “It is curious that after three and a half months of substantive tenure, FIFA would take such a decision, when for the two years before our elections, the majority of stakeholders were clamouring for their intervention to no avail. It is even more galling that the elections of November 24, included 100 per cent of the delegates and witnessed by FIFA officials and deemed to be free and fair. We remain steadfast in our belief that this is a breach of justice and we sincerely hope an undogmatic way is found to solve this problem. We look to you prevailing in this matter.”
Another letter of support came from the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) which reads: The SSFL wish to communicate their support for the democratically elected officers of the T&T Football Association; who FIFA has stated their intention to unilaterally remove from office. The SSFL condemns the decision, which it views as premature and arbitrary, given the fact that the said officers have been in office merely four months. Secondary Schools Football League supports and encourages the TTFA to explore every available avenue to have the FIFA decision rescinded.”
Letters from the TTAYSO and The T&T Football Referees Association also echoed similar sentiments.
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TTFA lawyers move on FIFA
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Attorneys acting on behalf of the T&T Football Association- Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle, have agreed to take their case to the next level which will be a pre-action protocol letter that will officially initiate court proceedings through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, against the world governing body for football - FIFA.
This became necessary after FIFA, failed to respond to their (TTFA) letter by the scheduled time of 8:00 am on Monday. The letter asked FIFA to rescind its decision to send a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of T&T football.
On March 17, FIFA decided to enforce article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa Statutes (which states that executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Fifa Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period), as it believed that TTFA was on the verge of insolvency.
FIFA decided after a three-man Financial committee visited T&T in February and examined the TTFA books after its accounts were frozen on February 13, following a high court order by one its former employees.
However, the embattled football association, being led by William Wallace has agreed to challenge this, saying that FIFA's action was prejudicial, unjustified and the move was without merit. Wallace and his three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph 'Sam" Phillip, who would have made exactly four months into office following their November 24, 2019 election triumph, gave FIFA an 8:00 am deadline on Monday to respond by rescinding their decision. TTFA's former general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that TTFA lawyers received no communication from FIFA.
Ramdhan, a former TT referee who participated at the 1998 World Cup admitted they were not at liberty to make comments for fear of prejudicing the case, but stands by his association's position that his administration, which has done a lot in the little time they were in power, will fight against the injustice of FIFA.
Ramdhan noted that his administration had only received the support of three out of the 31 members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), all of whom requested to remain anonymous for fear of victimization by the CONCACAF and the FIFA. After a letter and phone call was sent to all CFU members on March 19, said: “We got responses from three members, all supporting the stance we are taking. But they are so afraid that if they are known, they will be targeted. The other members did not even bother to acknowledge our call, such is the divisiveness that exists among the regional territories.”
According to Ramdhan, this divisiveness among our Caribbean members was championed by former TTFA president David John-Williams, who the CONCACAF and the FIFA have used to achieve their mandate. From the 41 CONCACAF nations, 31 are from the region, an advantage in numbers that is under-utilized, due to a perceive dependency by the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football and the- FIFA (Federation of International Football Associations), Ramdhan said.
Meanwhile, Ramdhan also sought to clear the air on the debt of the TTFA, saying it has been confirmed as $50 million. In his letter addressed to the FIFA on January 13, the TTFA put the debt at TT$33.7 million. However, the TTFA general secretary said: “Presently the outstanding balance owed concerning the Home Of Football is approximately $2 million. The amount of confirmed debt TT$15,211, 861.50. Attached for your information and yet to be determined is TT$25 million which represents two matters which are before the courts, the Jack Warner and Sheldon Phillips matters. These figures can change dramatically based on the current trend.”
He explained that attempts were made to pull the Sheldon Phillips matter out of the court with an attempt to settle amicably between the parties, both Phillips and Wallace have been having talks to find a resolution.
<CFU Boss: Challenge to FIFA takeover likely to fail>
Meanwhile, President of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Barbadian Randy Harris says while the decision by FIFA to take over the administration of football in Trinidad and Tobago is unfortunate, an appeal against the move is likely to be unsuccessful.
While the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and others in the local football community have described as a coup, the plan by the world governing body for the sport to replace the board with a normalisation committee, Harris said FIFA was acting within the rules that all member associations (MAs) have agreed to play by.
TTFA president William Wallace announced Wednesday that the association has mounted a challenge to FIFA’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
On Thursday Harris told Andre Errol Baptiste on I955 FM’s Sports radio show that, "The T&TFA has found itself in a sad situation which all of us in the Caribbean could be in tomorrow.”
However, he said, an appeal would be an expensive option that had little chance of success.
“In this particular situation – in my view, based on my experience – it would be very, very difficult to win a case such as this because FIFA has a right to decide when they will introduce normalisation. If you read the statutes, basically we all agree to play under the statues of FIFA,” Harris contended.
FIFA said on March 17, that it was going the normalisation route because an assessment it carried out in conjunction with the continental governing body, CONCACAF, found extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt that resulted in the TTFA facing “a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.
Harris noted that given the TTFA’s financial situation, it would be difficult for it to adequately administer football in the twin-island republic.
“You can’t have it both ways…. The funds that FIFA is allotting to us is not a right, it is a privilege. FIFA can get a president next week that decides that that is not the position that FIFA will take in the future. What will we do in the Caribbean?” he questioned.
FIFA’s normalisation committee will have up to two years to carry out its work, including creating a debt repayment plan which the TTFA can implement, reviewing the local governing body’s statutes and ensuring their adherence to FIFA regulations, and overseeing new elections.
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Is there a copy of the PFL and SL letters that support FIFA and the TTFA respectively?
Really hoping that KLL didnt do the same thing that is alleged with Sancho and the PFL concerning their respective leagues supporting FIFA or TTFA
first Ramdhan jump the gun with his release which was either poory reported or just a bad decision by Ramdhan...and now this drama
smh
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Arima Mayor dispels TTFA $50M debt plan.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Another announcement of a partnership by the T&T Football Association (TTFA) with an expectation to help erase the public-touted TT$50 million debt was dismissed by the office of the Arima Borough Corporation (ABC) via a media release dated March 21.
On Saturday, the Guardian newspaper reported exclusively that the TTFA had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a multi-billion dollar state-of-the-art football, residential and sporting facility with a UK Company that would have transformed the Arima community.
The publication followed a the decision on March 17, by the world governing body FIFA to send a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football. TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan attempted to show the public the plans that his organisation had put in place and shared with FIFA to deal with the challenges that it faces saying FIFA’s decision was done without merit or logic.
On Friday, Ramdhan, a former World Cup referee revealed that in January there was a series of letters that were exchanged between the TTFA and FIFA, one of which the embattled football administration had signed was an MOU for a multi-billion dollar state-of-the-art football, residential and sporting facility that would have transformed the Arima community.
He said it would have been his administration’s debt-eradication project. It was to be built on the under-utilised Arima Velodrome facility, situated in the heart of the eastern city.
Nevertheless, FIFA still sent a three-member finance audit committee to examine the TTFA accounts between February 26-28, following a High court garnishee order on February 13 by a former employee Kendall Walkes.
According to Ramdhan, the facility was set to include a sporting ground for local, regional and international matches, a living quarters that would have been put out to the public for sale, and a business centre, all of which he said was communicated to the FIFA/CONCACAF three-member team that conducted a financial audit in February as part of their means to clear existing TTFA debt.
“They were told of the purpose of the facility and were even given a copy of the agreement,” Ramdhan noted.
On March 4, at a news conference to announce what the new executive has done 100 days in office, president William Wallace announced that the TTFA had a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to treat with the TT$50 million debt in two to three years time. He did not name the company or partner.
Arima Mayor response to TTFA’s MOU claim
The project was to be done by international architect firm Lavender of the UK, a world-renown company in architecture and the builders of the World Cup stadium in Qatar.
Ramdhan, who was one of two TTFA officials to have signed the MOU, said the project was being done in collaboration with the Arima Borough Corporation and work was scheduled to begin later this year.
However, when contacted the Mayor for Arima Her Worship the Mayor, Councillor Lisa Morris-Julian responded with a media release which reads:
“The Arima Borough Corporation (ABC) would like to address statements by the Mr Ramesh Ramdhan, General Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association in the article TTFA reveals $50M debt-eradication proposal published in the Trinidad Guardian on Saturday 21st March 2020. The ABC wishes to state that the Corporation was not a signatory to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the proposed sporting facility in Arima.
In January 2020, officials from the TTFA paid a courtesy visit to the office of Her Worship the Mayor, Councillor Lisa Morris-Julian with the stated proposal for the football, residential and sporting facility. TTFA indicated that their international developers intended to visit a site that can accommodate their plans and that the Arima Velodrome seemed suitable.
The officials of TTFA were thanked for the consideration of the project in the Arima Borough, however, further into the discussions, several points were specified to the TTFA officials:
• A project of the magnitude must be approved by the Cabinet before proceeding with any further discussions;
• There must be consultation with Stakeholders and burgesses of the Arima Borough;
• The construction would have significant disruptions for the burgesses and businesses in Arima.
Following this, the officials of the TTFA stated that they were making arrangements for a formal proposal. To this date, nothing was forthcoming to council.”
TTFA letter to Mosengo-Omba to erase the debt
On January 23, a few days after the meeting with the Arima Mayor the TTFA wrote Veron Mosengo-Omba, the Chief Member Association Officer: “The current administration has a plan to deal with the debts inherited and we intend to meet and discuss this with our creditors. It is our intention to acknowledge the debts and if necessary give letters of comfort to avoid the courts of Trinidad and Tobago. We have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a foreign company for a project in Trinidad that would factor in a debt of fifty million dollars incorporated in the overall cost of the project to satisfy the debt. Officials of the said company will be visiting Trinidad in a couple of weeks to discuss this public-private partnership with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Ramdhan revealed in Saturday’s article that: “Official of the company—Lavender, were expected to be in T&T on April 14 to hold talks with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and other members of his government, as well as officials of the Arima Borough Corporation. The TTFA was expected to benefit handsomely from this project in terms of finance and it would have been used to clear the existing $50 million debt of the TTFA.”
However, when Guardian Media Sports reached to several Board members about the project on Saturday they said that were not aware of such a plan or project by the TTFA.
Brent Sancho, the acting Chairman of T&T Pro League said he heard of a plan to address the debt but it was not discussed or approved by the Board. Richard Quan Chan, a very experienced board member also said he was not aware of the project. Two other board members who did not want to be named, one said, “I don’t know nothing about that.” and the other said “No comment.”
Before the TTFA letter on January 23, the FIFA, in a letter to the TTFA on January 13, stated: “In light of the significant amount of outstanding debt the T&T Football Association has had in the past with third-party suppliers, the FIFA administration would like to follow up on the current status of those debts. It is important to highlight that assets financed by the FIFA Forward Programme cannot be, under any circumstances, mortgaged. The FIFA Member Associations Division is fully committed and available to support your member association in every necessary aspect in order to achieve a positive outcome.”
TTFA owing Warner, Phillips TT$25M
In response, Ramdhan said, “During a visit by the Development Manager it was discovered that funds intended for other areas were used on the now controversial Home of Football which resulted in the football association’s failure to meet its day-to-day expenses, particularly salaries for staff during the Christmas. Presently the outstanding balance owed in relation to the Home of Football is approximately $2 million, while the amount confirmed in debt is $38,782, 826.31. It was explained that others payable are $15,211,861.50, while to be determined was a $25 million which represents two (2) matters which are before the courts re: Jack Warner and Sheldon Phillips. These figures can change dramatically based on the current trend.”
In November 2019, at the launch of his TTFA presidency, William Wallace announced a list of prospective sponsors that were to inject an estimated TT$30 million into the TTFA once he became successful. Among them were American sporting goods giant Nike and local the contractor the Junior Sammy Group of Companies. Both deals have fallen through.
On March 3, the TTFA also announced a partnership worth TT$1.5 million with Caribbean Chemicals Limited, however, two days after FIFA announced that it has decided to send in a normalisation committee to run T&T football the company cancelled the arrangement.
On Tuesday, FIFA decided to send a normalisation committee after it felt the football association’s financial position was near insolvency, although the TTFA tried to convinced FIFA that they were set to wipe clean the debt through the Lavender project. They (TTFA) also sought to show FIFA that it would have put the country’s football on a stable footing.
A day after FIFA’s decision, the TTFA president Wallace announced that the association will challenge FIFA’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). FIFA was given until today to respond to the TTFA.
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FIFA yet to respond to TTFA’s legal threat.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
FIFA, the world’s governing body for football, is yet to respond to the legal threat issued by former TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace, who is challenging FIFA’s decision last Tuesday to scrap the TTFA executive and implement a normalisation committee.
Wallace, represented by attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle, threatened FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura with formal legal proceedings.
The attorneys described the committee as “attempted unlawful interference in the operation of the sovereign body”. FIFA was given until 8 am on Monday to respond.
But Ramesh Ramdhan, TTFA general secretary, said, “We are awaiting (the TTFA lawyers’) next move. As far as I know, they have not communicated as they were advised to communicate, by 8 am Trinidad time. The attorneys are now contemplating putting through their next move if they didn’t comply.
“We have to wait until the attorneys get back to us.”
Ramdhan is hopeful that the TTFA gets feedback from FIFA by Tuesday morning.
Dr Crowne and Gayle also issued a pre-action protocol letter to TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick, who was named by FIFA to head the local governing body, until the normalisation committee was implemented.
However, Patrick, on Saturday, decided against taking up the offer, leaving the TTFA without a head.
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Wallace gets support: ‘premature’ decision.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
FIVE local football bodies have all thrown their support behind the TT Football Association (TTFA), in its battle against FIFA’s decision to send a normalisation committee to conduct the affairs of local football.
Last Tuesday, FIFA decided to scrap the TTFA executive, led by president William Wallace, and implement the committee due to mounting debt by the TTFA, which was more than $50 million.
On Wednesday, FIFA appointed TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick to head the TTFA until the committee was implemented. However, on Saturday, Patrick declined FIFA’s offer, stating that he did not want to attempt interfering in the running of the duly elected TTFA executive.
The local bodies who have all offered support are the TT Super League, the Northern Football Association (NFA), the Tobago Football Association (TFA), the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and the TT American Youth Soccer Organisation (TTAYSO).
In a letter to TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan on Monday, which was issued by TT Super League secretary Peter Thomas, “the clubs of the Super League wish to communicate their support for the democratically elected officers of the TTFA, who FIFA have stated their intention to unilaterally remove from office.”
The Super League has condemned the decision by FIFA, “which it views as premature and arbitrary, given the fact that (the TTFA executive) have been in office merely four months.”
And the Super League has encouraged the TTFA “to explore every available avenue to have the FIFA decision rescinded.”
NFA president Anthony Harford, who addressed his letter to Wallace, said, “It is curious that, after just three and a half months of substantive tenure, FIFA would take such a decision, when for the two years prior to our elections, the majority of stakeholders were clamouring for their intervention, to no avail.”
Harford added, “We remain steadfast in our belief that this is a breach of justice and we sincerely hope an undogmatic way is found to solve this problem. We look forward to your prevailing in this matter.”
Via a letter issued by its vice-president Samuel Orr to the TTFA on Saturday, the TFA, “(raises) its disappointment at the action initiated by FIFA.”
The TFA has also urged the TTFA to seek any available means to get the FIFA decision rescinded.
Also, on Monday, the SSFL general secretary Azaad Khan and TTAYSO area director Dale Toney both sent letters to the TTFA, condemning the move made by FIFA.
On Thursday, the TT Pro League expressed their support towards the setting up of the normalisation committee.
“As a football company who have invested over $200 million into the national economy over the last 18 years, the TT Pro League stand ready to work alongside the Ministry of Sports and the FIFA appointed normalisation committee for the continued development of the game.
“The TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office,” said the Pro League, in a media release.
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TTFA must be normalized, if not now, when?
By Andre E Baptiste (Guardian).
Normal has become abnormal in these times for the world. There are many in this world currently that believe that abnormal is the new normal and in this context, I am not talking about person’s behaviour, integrity or beliefs but rather the abstract opposite that defines a country and in some cases a sport, a constitution and the organization charged with the responsibility to manage such.
The announcement on March 17 by FIFA that it is sending a Normalization committee to this country has sent shockwaves to all if not most but the question is - Should we be surprised?.
There may be at least six other sports in this country that require some intervention.
The facts are that Football is the most popular sport in this country while remaining not the most successful given only one Senior Men’s World Cup qualification in 2005 for the 2006 World Cup. However, if you do not measure success on World qualification events both for men and women then football is a success because it is the sport in this country for which nearly all citizens would have participated in at one time or the other at any age-group level. This, therefore, dictates that it is critical in every which way to this country.
Therefore, history will dictate that after 2006, the senior men’s team lost its way through the corridors and offices of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and has not recovered since. In 2014 our senior women footballers inspired by a team spirit and drive from all involved from administration to coach to the captain to players to supporters and even among our latent doubters (that “L” word again) overcame one obstacle after another to just fall short at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on tears filled night on December 2.
After that loss and disappointment, Many felt the hammer of Fifa was coming thereafter but wisely a change in the constitution to allow the one club vote system based on the recommendation by an elite group of T&T citizens (willing to volunteer time and energy for no financial reward) may have bought the Raymond Tim Kee administration some time, it was finally ratified in July 2015 but then later in 2015, Tim Kee’s new policy unlocked the door to democratic elections, as it should always be in any organization.
And In came David John-Williams whose style after the election rubbed some the wrong way. Perhaps he did not trust those around him, Perhaps they did not trust him but sadly for all, under the new dispensation of the TTFA everyone had a voice, each person could speak and even if not heard by dissenting voices, the advent of social media and political one-upmanship meant their views would be made public somewhere else, over time it would become toxic. John-Williams believed in his idea because he was a football man, rich in the history of the Pro League with W Connection and willing to invest his money where his mouth is. And Fifa all this time lurking in the background would have again taken note and sharpen their pencils after all this was T&T the country of Austin” Jack “ Warner, a man they now despised because of what they believed he had done to them (interestingly not for them).
As well a change in the leadership of FIFA, with Giovanni Infantino seeking out and getting John- Williams support in his FIFA presidency would have made the FIFA internal thrust to move in on T&T, possibly get a stay of execution. Infantino was elected President of FIFA in February 2016.
Thus until November 2019 when the Home of football was opened, all Normalization thoughts and talks were averted or discontinued. So like Tim Kee, John-Williams had avoided the hammer by not only mere strategy but also I suggest by listening to advice from others.
William Wallace wins in 2019 in a competitive but fair election on the backdrop of not only change but also ideas and promises as well.
The country is ready and waiting, but not for what comes next, after several logical proposals for new staffing and roles, comes the thought that there is no money to fund such. Where are the FIFA money, the FIFA support, and the FIFA grant?
FIFA’s handle though was over, they were no longer directly involved, not visiting, not checking the facility, not checking the payments, not readily in discussion with the TTFA and that was now going to be a concern. But the question has to be - Why should it? This was a facility that was to be an income generator eventually through the hotel and a planned income generator entertainment centre as well, like football fields to rent or lease out. But that never materialize because of questions raised by the newly appointed team on the facility and eventually the publicly endorsed closure of the reported $2 million US facility.
FIFA’s rationale for implementing the Normalization committee has been questioned in light of the words expressed on my programme by President Wallace and the General Secretary Ramdhan and the apparent assurances given to both by Fifa officials just over three weeks ago. Just as I told both men, they needed to get those thoughts and opinions in writing because at this stage they mean little.
Ramdhan shoots from the hip and talks from the heart, they are a good pair at times, because they are both passionate but again in this football environment that is Trinidad and Tobago where egos exist, there are always people trying to shut you down for your beliefs because it was not theirs.
The days of just rolling in and expecting no questions are gone. Communication works both ways and not just one alone. There is a sense that Wallace and Ramdhan may want what is best for our football and so too did John-Williams and Tim Kee but the difference may just be how each proceeded in this regard and also who was in charge of Fifa at the time. Tim Kee was the President during the rough days of Fifa investigation and changing of the guards while John-Williams supported the incumbent.
Sadly both Wallace and Ramdhan missed the opportunity to stake their intentions and claims personally with both the President of FIFA and CONCACAF in November
Lastly, FIFA in this environment will find it difficult to select persons who will be able to withstand what may come next one way or the other unless they can get the – buy-in – of the public by themselves being open and transparent with all the information in their possession. It is the only way forward and let our hopes they realize that before Trinidad and Tobago pay the ultimate price. It may also be extremely difficult to convince professionals of FIFA way unless they can explicitly detail their findings and objectives and not hide behind innuendos. It may be asking a lot of them, but we the people of this country – deserve no less than that.
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Andre Baptiste take that drivel and shove it.
Ain't nobody swallowing that tripe
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The unmasking of Andre Baptiste, is it?
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The unmasking of Andre Baptiste, is it?
what mask when was there ever a mask, he was "inside" and fighting to stay dey all through d election, i95 too may be culpable
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I hate that guy, I really do. Heard him on the jokey sport program of his with his dumb lisp talking about azim basserat and David cameron. this bloke is certainly not without prejudice and he makes no efforts to hide his obvious biases. people like him has no place in the public domain, especially in a place like Trinidad where most depend on the media for their information.
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TTFA risks suspension in pursuit of justice against FIFA
By Gyasi Merrique (T&T Guardian)
The dust raised by sudden and swift football takeover here in T&T has not yet settled and neither will it settle soon, Especially if the ousted administration continues to pursue mediation through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on FIFA’s decision to appoint a Normalisation Committee here in T&T.
It was only last Tuesday March 17, FIFA announced that it had disbanded the ruling TTFA administration led by William Wallace, in favour of its committee to run the day to day affairs, establish a plan to reduce the association’s mounting debt, make necessary adjustments to the TTFA statutes so that they are compliant with FIFA’s and finally, to organize and execute an election at the end of its stipulated time in charge or at the end of the process, whichever comes first.
Since that communication to the TTFA, FIFA has neither identified a chairman for this committee and its members nor has football’s global governing body stipulated how long will this committee serve, except to say that its stay will not exceed 24 months.
During a recent interview with Guardian Media Sports, Clinton Urling - former chairman of the FIFA Normalisation Committee in Guyana in 2014, said that the aggrieved T&T football administrators are well within their right to take the matter to CAS without fear of reprimand from FIFA.
However, Urling foreshadowed that premise by stating categorically that the position which the local association now finds itself is, “…the point before the same FIFA says ‘you are no longer a part of the FIFA family’ or bans the entire member association.”
End of the road for TTFA
Former FIFA VP Jack Warner backed this up when he stated that the installation of a normalization committee was “the end of the rope” for the TTFA and “the lowest point” for any FIFA member association.
By these pronunciations it seems that the TTFA and T&T’s status among the international football community is hanging by a thread. In fact, one needs only to review a situation which emerged in 2008 leading to the suspension of the Samoa Football Soccer Federation within a matter of eight months of a similar intervention by FIFA to that which the TTFA now faces.
And if there is anyone that can warn the TTFA about the possibility of a suspension from the FIFA family, that person is Warner himself who was a member of the FIFA Emergency Committee which decided on Samoa.
According to a FIFA report which Guardian Media Sports has seen - In 2008, following a joint mission between FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation into Samoa four months earlier, FIFA attempted to set up a Normalization Committee at the SFSF with the stated objective to “restore the proper administration of football in Samoa.”
Samoa's debt was only US $686,000
At the time, the Samoa Football Soccer Federation (SFSF) was burdened with significant debt, believed to be an estimated $US686,000 and still with the possibility of bulging further if more creditors stepped forward with claims. FIFA determined that this, as well as general mismanagement of the association “endangered not only the association but also FIFA’s Goal Project in Samoa.”
The FIFA Goal Programme provides resources and funding for essential projects so that member associations in developing countries can advance the game of football. – FIFA.com
In what could be interpreted as FIFA acting (in the main) in the interest of protecting its significant investment in the Samoa Goal Project as well as to save the federation from crippling debt, Warner and the rest of FIFA’s Emergency Committee - chaired by former FIFA President, Sepp Blatter and included other former FIFA Executive Committee members, Michel Platini, Issa Hayatou, Mohamed Bin Hammam, Reynald Temarii and Dr Nicolas Leoz – took action.
The similarities between the Samoan Federation and T&T’s are striking, starting with those between the FIFA Goal Programme, instituted by Blatter in 1999 and the FIFA Forward Development Programme adopted in 2016, under which the construction and establishment of the TTFA’s Home of Football has been funded.
FIFA protecting its investment
FIFA Forward is built to provide 360-degree, tailor-made support for football development in each of our member associations and the six confederations and is based on three principles - more investment, more impact, more oversight. The aim is to improve the way we develop and support football across the globe so that football can reach its potential in every single country. – FIFA.com
Despite being declared open under former TTFA president David John-Williams last November, William Wallace and the new TTFA board of Directors elected on November 24, decided to keep the HoF closed. They claim that an audit of the project has uncovered that in addition to the incompletion of necessary works that would bring the facility up to code, there also several outstanding debts to suppliers and contractors who worked on the project.
In Samoa in 2008, creditors threatened to foreclose on the Goal Project as well as to seize certain assets before the FIFA Finance Committee agreed to an exemption to its Financial Assistance Programme rules to allow the SFSF to use FAP funds to pay off outstanding debts.
Moving beyond the financial resemblances, there are also similarities in legal posturing between the SFSF and the TTFA.
However, unlike FIFA’s willingness to bend its FAP rules where finances are a concern, attempting to take them on in the very public glare of the legal arena proved to not such a good idea in the case of Samoa.
Why Samoa was suspended
After FIFA attempted to institute is own remedial measures, then SFSF president Tautulu Roebuck refused to recognize the power of FIFA’s normalization committee and twice tried to take the dispute to a tribunal.
An initial submission in June 2008 to CAS was ordered to be withdrawn due to administrative oversight, but by October, according to an article appearing on the website of Fijian newspaper – Fiji Sun, the FIFA Emergency Committee decided to suspend the SFSF with immediate effect over its non-compliance with the normalization committee.
In November of 2008, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported that Samoa’s Sports Tribunal ruled in favour of the normalization committee taking over the affairs of the SFSF. The Tribunal granted the Normalisation Committee full jurisdiction and ordered Roebuck to resign his post and relinquish all Federation files to the Normalisation Committee.
Following Roebuck’s official appeal of these decisions as well as FIFA’s suspension of the SFSF, the Court of Arbitration of sport determined in May 2009, the SFSF president’s “Lack of standing to appeal” relating to the “Validity of a FIFA decision to establish a normalization Committee”.
The Court’s adjudicating panel determined the following:
As for the function of the NC, the federation’s chairman is therefore automatically replaced by the NC and the replaced chairman, as an individual not subject to the FIFA Statutes, therefore cannot appear before CAS in his individual capacity as he lacks standing. The appeal should thus be rejected on these grounds without going into the merits of the case.”
Like Samoa and other member nations before it, the TTFA is well within its right to pursue justice against any perceived wrong-going even if history shows that the outcome might not always be favourable.
Editor's note:
According to TTFA and FIFA documents seen by Guardian Media Sports - During 2012 and 2014 two different groups within the TTFA sought to get FIFA's involvement to remedy concerns that plagued T&T football. The first was a group of players who were aiming to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and sighted several issues among mismanagement and financial concerns that would affect the country's chances of achieving its objective. In the second instance, two vice presidents serving under former President (now deceased) Raymond Tim Kee (Rudolph Thomas and Lennox Watson) requested FIFA's involvement.
The result was that FIFA through its then secretary Jerome Valcke gave the TTFA an ultimatum; to establish an Independent Reform Commission, or; face being reported to the FIFA Emergency Committee for consideration and action, which could have included the appointment of a Normalization Committee.
The reforms committee was set-up and that led to a new constitution which changed the name from the T&T Football Federation (TTFF) to the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and elections which saw David John-Williams elected as the new TTFA President in November 2015.
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Opinion: Much of TTFA, FIFA fallout still shrouded in confusion and contradiction
Kwesi Mugisa (digicelsportsmax.com)
Even from a distance, it seems impossible not to gawk at the mangled train wreck that has unfolded at the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association and not be overcome with a sense of bewilderment.
In a press conference earlier this month, then newly elected president William Wallace became the latest in a long line of TTFA bosses to firmly plant allegations of widespread corruption at the feet of the previous tenants. The new head honcho pointed to unpaid statutory deductions, bounced checks, a faulty finance structure as partial contributors to the body accruing a towering $US7,370,990 (TT$50,000,000). Wallace also pointed to an incomplete Home of Football in Couva, which he claimed was shown to have structural flaws and lacking proper insurance.
In the midst of the doom and gloom, Wallace then went on to paint a much rosier outlook for the future of the TTFA, after claiming the newly appointed administration had already taken major steps to alleviate some of the issues. A settlement had been reached with television commentator Selwyn Melville regarding the issue of who owns the ‘Soca Warriors’ (Now famous nickname of the Trinidad and Tobago Men's Senior team) and the announcement of an unspecified memorandum of understanding that would clear the debt in ‘two to three years’. The president pointed out that the new body had secured a TT$25-million apparel deal, secured a broadcast and digital rights partner, sealed a domestic sponsor and secured a sponsor for the FA.
Good so far, but crucially, Wallace claimed that the work of a pair of accountants posted within his administration’s new internal finance structure satisfied a recent delegation of FIFA and Concacaf officials and that a better relationship could be expected going forward. The bodies have long been at odds regarding the financial state of the local football body and had delayed its annual subvention. A little over two weeks later FIFA disbanded the Board of the TTFA and appointed a normalization committee to take over affairs. What on earth is going on? Nobody has explained to date.
The timing of FIFA's intervention seems strange, deciding to disband a newly formed executive that seems to not only have implemented structural reform but also pledges for financial support. A perceived sense of chumminess with the former administration, whether real or imagined put this in an even worse light and could be a real black eye for a Gianni Infantino-led organisation, which claims to have taken on the mantle of crusaders against corruption.
The response of the former TTFA members is, however, also interesting.
Any claims about a violation of sovereign and democratically elected officials certainly does not fly as when it comes to football the twin-island republic falls directly under the governance of FIFA itself and not the state. In several instances, countries have been suspended from the organisation for violating just that principle. The charter and ordinances that govern all 211 national associations of which T&T are a part, and the particular article that was quoted, gives them the specific right to intervene in the affairs of a member nation. Normalisation committees are not after all aberrations on the global football landscape with Ghana, Egypt, Pakistan and Namibia among a few of those that have received such ‘assistance’ in recent years. This isn't even the first time this has happened in the Caribbean, with FIFA taking over the Guyana Football Federation and putting in a normalisation committee for a little over a year.
In other words, Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president Randy Harris was right, even if not popular, in pointing out that the appointment of normalisation committees is the prerogative of FIFA and can happen to any of the 211 national associations. With all members agreeing to and playing under those statues it is difficult to see how it can be argued otherwise.
Secondly, it’s hard to imagine supporting the argument that a measure put in place to mitigate against damage the TTFA has admitted exists, is unfair, and to do so with the question, 'why now?'. FIFA should perhaps have intervened long ago, but few could argue with firefighters attempting to save any part of a house that has been engulfed in flames for a prolonged period. We would not advocate them letting it burn to the ground.
Though they may not be required to, FIFA should, in the interest of the transparency they have long sought, give more details on the specifics of these particular circumstances.
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I wrote a sort of article/opinion piece a week ago and submitted it to a journalist with a well-known media outlet in T&T. I did so under my real name as related to my Caribbean football site with a preface explaining my relation to the game in the region -- it appears it was not published, so I thought I'd share it here
Time for the CFU to Grow Some Teeth and Support Ousted TTFA
The date was 13 November 2016, 8:46 PM in Chicago, 10:46 PM in Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti had just beaten St. Kitts and Nevis 2-0 in CFU Caribbean Cup qualification. The match had finished 0-0 in at the end of normal time, but due to tournament rules stating that there would be no matches could end in a draw, Haiti scored twice in extra time, aided by a red card to their opponents for a moment of absolute madness. This result left Haiti second in Group 2 of Round 3 of the qualifying competition, with the three best runners up from the four, three-team groups in this round qualifying for a “5th Place Playoff.” The result left Haiti level with Antigua and Barbuda in their respective groups, each in second place with three points, a goal difference of minus one, Haiti appearing to be occupying the final playoff spot with four goals scored to Antigua’s two.
Very quickly, however, a question arose about which side should go through – Haiti claiming they should go through by virtue of goals scored, Antigua and Barbuda saying that Haiti’s three points, coming after what normally would have been a 0-0 draw, should have seen the Benna Boys go through. Messages from people within each country’s Football Association showed that neither was clear about the competition rules or which country should go through. Messages to organizers at the Caribbean Football Union quickly revealed that no one within the organization was certain of which side should go through. After days of well-publicized confusion, CFU referred the matter to CONCACAF, who ultimately decided that Haiti would go through. The most damning aspect of the whole affair was that the CFU had clearly not learned their lesson from the globally-infamous, farcical match between Grenada and Barbados at the same tournament in 1994 -- video of which has been viewed over two million times on YouTube – the CFU being fortunate that the exact situation did not reoccur in 2016 had a team needed to extend play beyond 90 minutes for any reason.
CONCACAF’s reaction to the absurdity was swift -- though there is evidence their subsequent actions were already planned. In March 2017, they opened an office in Jamaica and quickly took control of all of the region’s competitions. Gone were the CFU Caribbean Cup and CFU Club Championship, to be replaced by the CONCACAF-backed Nations League, Caribbean Club Championship, and Caribbean Shield. After this power move, the Caribbean Football Union, for all intents and purposes, faded to oblivion.
The merits of CONCACAF’s complete takeover of football in the region are debatable. Without question, the CFU following the 2011 corruption scandal, was at a low ebb. After a landmark partnership with Digicel for the 2006-2010 Caribbean Championships/Caribbean Cups which saw massive local promotion of the tournament, as well as highlights packages and live matches broadcast around the world, subsequent tournaments were poorly covered both locally and internationally and, as demonstrated, poorly organized. With the region’s hegemon, Jack Warner, removed from power, along with his acolytes throughout FAs in the region, a relative power vacuum saw the region begin to drift listlessly. Without doubt, many would point out that CONCACAF’s Nations League has been a positive move for football in the Caribbean, with 100% participation from all member FAs a big improvement on past tournaments, when many national teams often went years without playing so much as an international friendly.
While the Nations League has been an improvement, at least on the pitch, fundamental problems persist throughout the Caribbean. On a personal level, I have been very vocal in my criticisms of top-level football governance, with a few notable exceptions who I would not want to tar with this broad brush, of FAs across the Caribbean. (I must categorically state that this is not a criticism of the people working, often in volunteer roles, in the everyday operations of FAs and football in the region). To lay bare here the laundry list of fundamental ways that the game across the region must be handled more professionally in order to progress would be unproductive and would likely require another lengthy article. Progress on basic aspects of the game is well within reach for many FAs – indeed, it has already been seen in some corners -- and in many cases would not be very difficult to attain, but to do so would require upsetting the status quo, which many are not willing to do. It is my belief that, if the region, or even an individual FA, is to make any positive strides forward, it must do so under its own impetus.
As such, until Tuesday, my biggest criticisms of the past two Concacaf regimes in relation to Caribbean football, would have been their general apathy toward promoting the game in region. This was perhaps best-evidenced at the Caribbean Shield competition, a second-tier international club tournament featuring the non-professional domestic clubs in the region. For the last two editions of the Shield, Concacaf has featured little-to-zero coverage on their website in terms of match reports or match data, and what little there has been has been rife with errors, such as incorrect results or players being given as playing for the wrong team. Media coverage such as live streaming of matches or even live updates from matches has been non-existent from Concacaf, despite the fact that at least one broadcaster confirmed that they had offered to stream these matches. For these players, the amateur and semi-professionals who are in the most dire need of exposure, the Shield has been a major failure on Concacaf’s part. Even on the most-laudable aspects of Concacaf’s changes, there was cause for eye-rolling, such as when the ignorant commentators on the Nations League broadcasts would, amongst other basic errors, mispronounce the names of the teams playing (e.g. “an-geel-lah”, “ant-teeg-gwah and bar-boo-dah”, “gwah-duh-loo-pay”, “duh-min-ick-cah”, etc.). These sorts of issues -- which now pervade Concacaf’s coverage of the game in the region, yet had been rendered largely non-existent in Caribbean football until the aforementioned 2011 corruption scandal occurred -- could perhaps have been written off as pedantic or punctilious given other far larger positive strides, such as the aforementioned Nations League.
This all changed on Tuesday with FIFA’s announcement that, in conjunction with Concacaf, the new, William Wallace-led TTFA executive had been ousted in favor of a FIFA-selected normalisation committee. In general, I am not against FIFA’s intervention in the region. In fact, I welcomed their decision to intervene against the deeply corrupt, Osiris Guzman-run FA in the Dominican Republic in 2018 with open arms. However, the blatant imperialistic overtones and clearly unethical aspects of this decision against the TTFA were laid bare in the media almost immediately and do not bear repeating here. The most galling aspect of this decision was that the William Wallace-led TTFA, after only three months, had been a bright spot in Caribbean football, namely with their push for the transparency and accountability that have been so badly lacking in both Trinidad and Tobago as well as most other FAs across the region. Another clear difference between this case and the aforementioned Dominican Republic case, was the massive difference in local public opinion about the respective FAs. As someone who had already become disillusioned with the poor governance of the game in the region, for this decision to be taken against a new FA that was taking positive, almost unheard of, steps towards progress was unconscionable.
It is with the above in mind that I would call on the 30 remaining member FAs of the Caribbean Football Union to unite behind the ousted TTFA administration as they take their case against FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Without question, I would understand that there might be hesitancy from individual FAs to “upset the apple cart” in view of their own interests in relation to Concacaf and FIFA. To be one of the possibly-few to stick their head above the parapet would be a risk that I have no doubt many, all being well, would rather not make. With that in mind, a strong, reunited CFU would leave the organization with 31 Concacaf members – a large majority in the region – and 25 FIFA members, which would be a force to be reckoned with as far as the global governing body is concerned. If the CFU were successful with such an action, it could then begin to chart their own course forward without fear of bullying from their “big brothers” at Concacaf and FIFA – and would also help protect themselves from similar action in the future. For the sake of football in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Caribbean as a whole, I hope the CFU will do so.
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Opinion: FIFA article 8.2 promotes bullying
By Paul-Andre Walker (digicelsportsmax.com)
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the most powerful sporting body in the world and it should be.
FIFA is in control of 211 football associations throughout the world, in a sport that is the most popular and profitable on the globe.
However, the association hasn’t always used that power in the most judicious ways and recently went through a harrowing couple of years with evidence of widespread corruption beating down on its reputation.
Many bans and jail sentences later, FIFA has tried to change its image with new, progressive bosses with a more inclusive management style.
But, in truth, FIFA is a fiefdom and that was made very clear in the events in Trinidad and Tobago over the last week.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) board does not exist anymore and its president, scratch that, former president, looks set for a lengthy legal battle to change that.
I do not want to get into the who is right and who is wrong, even though there are questions FIFA should answer.
Here are the facts as we know them.
An arm of FIFA called the Bureau of the FIFA Council investigated the financial affairs of the TTFA, which had just gone through the process of electing a new president in William Wallace just over three months before.
According to the council’s findings, the TTFA was in bad shape financially, so bad, that it risked the possibility of insolvency if the situation were not arrested.
Further, the council says it found that there was no plan to assuage the situation, leading it to replace the TTFA’s board with a normalization committee that would be in place for a maximum of two years after which it would hold elections to create a new board with its own mandate.
On an interim basis, FIFA installed former TTFA Finance Manager Tyril Patrick to oversee the day-to-day activities of the organization before the normalization committee could be properly vetted, organized and begin to work.
According to FIFA, that normalization committee would be given a mandate to:
1. Run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
2. Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
3. Review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
4. Organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
But today, the TTFA has no direction as interim boss, Patrick, declined the position after lawyers for Wallace wrote to him, calling his appointment illegal, or at the very least unconstitutional.
In fact, the former TTFA boss has not taken his ousting lying down and is contemplating taking his grouses to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, pointing out that FIFA has ignored his plans to get the TTFA out of debt and is claiming prejudice against his administration, pointing first up to the timing of the ‘coup d’etat’ and the implications of a friendship with the TTFA’s previous boss, as well as inconsistencies regarding a FIFA-TTFA joint project dubbed ‘The Home of Football’.
I won’t look at any of that, however. I am more interested in the entrenched laws that allow FIFA to make a decision of this nature.
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president, Randy Harris sympathises with the ousted TTFA administration but believes FIFA well within their rights to install a normalization committee.
Harris is right because of article 8.2 of the FIFA statute.
Article 8.2 states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time’.
It is here that I have a problem though.
I suppose, FIFA, as arbiters of the sport, must have in its bylaws, appropriate actions to ensure the continued growth of the sport throughout the world, but I find this article distasteful.
The article admits that the council is removing an ‘Executive’ body which has been duly elected by administrators of the sport within a country. This means, FIFA is saying it reserves the right to ignore the democracy of an entity when it has a mind to do so.
I say ‘has a mind’, because it is the council who decides what is an ‘exceptional circumstance’ and in this instance, it very well might be. But the fact that it is FIFA making this judgement, is problematic.
Each Member Association has elections and it is there that they decide if the fate of their organization can be managed by its leaders. It should certainly not be as easy as it was for FIFA to overturn that decision.
It means, in essence, if a Member Association does not operate its own affairs just the way FIFA says it should, and each country has a different set of circumstances to deal with that could mean varying ways of operating such affairs, then you could find that you have no say.
Harris pointed to this fact in a radio interview with Trinidad and Tobago’s i955 FM’s ISports radio, saying “The Trinidad and Tobago FA has found itself in a sad situation which all of us in the Caribbean could be in tomorrow.”
Therein lies my problem. This particular ‘takeover’ may very well be warranted with the TTFA in debt to the tune of TT$50 million, the question is, who decides this, and how can it be that ‘little’ Member Associations have no say in deciding whether or not they need outside help?
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
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TTFA must be normalized, if not now, when?
By Andre E Baptiste (Guardian).
Normal has become abnormal in these times for the world. There are many in this world currently that believe that abnormal is the new normal and in this context, I am not talking about person’s behaviour, integrity or beliefs but rather the abstract opposite that defines a country and in some cases a sport, a constitution and the organization charged with the responsibility to manage such.
The announcement on March 17 by FIFA that it is sending a Normalization committee to this country has sent shockwaves to all if not most but the question is - Should we be surprised?.
There may be at least six other sports in this country that require some intervention.
The facts are that Football is the most popular sport in this country while remaining not the most successful given only one Senior Men’s World Cup qualification in 2005 for the 2006 World Cup. However, if you do not measure success on World qualification events both for men and women then football is a success because it is the sport in this country for which nearly all citizens would have participated in at one time or the other at any age-group level. This, therefore, dictates that it is critical in every which way to this country.
Therefore, history will dictate that after 2006, the senior men’s team lost its way through the corridors and offices of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and has not recovered since. In 2014 our senior women footballers inspired by a team spirit and drive from all involved from administration to coach to the captain to players to supporters and even among our latent doubters (that “L” word again) overcame one obstacle after another to just fall short at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on tears filled night on December 2.
After that loss and disappointment, Many felt the hammer of Fifa was coming thereafter but wisely a change in the constitution to allow the one club vote system based on the recommendation by an elite group of T&T citizens (willing to volunteer time and energy for no financial reward) may have bought the Raymond Tim Kee administration some time, it was finally ratified in July 2015 but then later in 2015, Tim Kee’s new policy unlocked the door to democratic elections, as it should always be in any organization.
And In came David John-Williams whose style after the election rubbed some the wrong way. Perhaps he did not trust those around him, Perhaps they did not trust him but sadly for all, under the new dispensation of the TTFA everyone had a voice, each person could speak and even if not heard by dissenting voices, the advent of social media and political one-upmanship meant their views would be made public somewhere else, over time it would become toxic. John-Williams believed in his idea because he was a football man, rich in the history of the Pro League with W Connection and willing to invest his money where his mouth is. And Fifa all this time lurking in the background would have again taken note and sharpen their pencils after all this was T&T the country of Austin” Jack “ Warner, a man they now despised because of what they believed he had done to them (interestingly not for them).
As well a change in the leadership of FIFA, with Giovanni Infantino seeking out and getting John- Williams support in his FIFA presidency would have made the FIFA internal thrust to move in on T&T, possibly get a stay of execution. Infantino was elected President of FIFA in February 2016.
Thus until November 2019 when the Home of football was opened, all Normalization thoughts and talks were averted or discontinued. So like Tim Kee, John-Williams had avoided the hammer by not only mere strategy but also I suggest by listening to advice from others.
William Wallace wins in 2019 in a competitive but fair election on the backdrop of not only change but also ideas and promises as well.
The country is ready and waiting, but not for what comes next, after several logical proposals for new staffing and roles, comes the thought that there is no money to fund such. Where are the FIFA money, the FIFA support, and the FIFA grant?
FIFA’s handle though was over, they were no longer directly involved, not visiting, not checking the facility, not checking the payments, not readily in discussion with the TTFA and that was now going to be a concern. But the question has to be - Why should it? This was a facility that was to be an income generator eventually through the hotel and a planned income generator entertainment centre as well, like football fields to rent or lease out. But that never materialize because of questions raised by the newly appointed team on the facility and eventually the publicly endorsed closure of the reported $2 million US facility.
FIFA’s rationale for implementing the Normalization committee has been questioned in light of the words expressed on my programme by President Wallace and the General Secretary Ramdhan and the apparent assurances given to both by Fifa officials just over three weeks ago. Just as I told both men, they needed to get those thoughts and opinions in writing because at this stage they mean little.
Ramdhan shoots from the hip and talks from the heart, they are a good pair at times, because they are both passionate but again in this football environment that is Trinidad and Tobago where egos exist, there are always people trying to shut you down for your beliefs because it was not theirs.
The days of just rolling in and expecting no questions are gone. Communication works both ways and not just one alone. There is a sense that Wallace and Ramdhan may want what is best for our football and so too did John-Williams and Tim Kee but the difference may just be how each proceeded in this regard and also who was in charge of Fifa at the time. Tim Kee was the President during the rough days of Fifa investigation and changing of the guards while John-Williams supported the incumbent.
Sadly both Wallace and Ramdhan missed the opportunity to stake their intentions and claims personally with both the President of FIFA and CONCACAF in November
Lastly, FIFA in this environment will find it difficult to select persons who will be able to withstand what may come next one way or the other unless they can get the – buy-in – of the public by themselves being open and transparent with all the information in their possession. It is the only way forward and let our hopes they realize that before Trinidad and Tobago pay the ultimate price. It may also be extremely difficult to convince professionals of FIFA way unless they can explicitly detail their findings and objectives and not hide behind innuendos. It may be asking a lot of them, but we the people of this country – deserve no less than that.
Baptiste has officially sold out... extremely disappointing ...
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I wrote a sort of article/opinion piece a week ago and submitted it to a journalist with a well-known media outlet in T&T. I did so under my real name as related to my Caribbean football site with a preface explaining my relation to the game in the region -- it appears it was not published, so I thought I'd share it here
Time for the CFU to Grow Some Teeth and Support Ousted TTFA
The date was 13 November 2016, 8:46 PM in Chicago, 10:46 PM in Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti had just beaten St. Kitts and Nevis 2-0 in CFU Caribbean Cup qualification. The match had finished 0-0 in at the end of normal time, but due to tournament rules stating that there would be no matches could end in a draw, Haiti scored twice in extra time, aided by a red card to their opponents for a moment of absolute madness. This result left Haiti second in Group 2 of Round 3 of the qualifying competition, with the three best runners up from the four, three-team groups in this round qualifying for a “5th Place Playoff.” The result left Haiti level with Antigua and Barbuda in their respective groups, each in second place with three points, a goal difference of minus one, Haiti appearing to be occupying the final playoff spot with four goals scored to Antigua’s two.
Very quickly, however, a question arose about which side should go through – Haiti claiming they should go through by virtue of goals scored, Antigua and Barbuda saying that Haiti’s three points, coming after what normally would have been a 0-0 draw, should have seen the Benna Boys go through. Messages from people within each country’s Football Association showed that neither was clear about the competition rules or which country should go through. Messages to organizers at the Caribbean Football Union quickly revealed that no one within the organization was certain of which side should go through. After days of well-publicized confusion, CFU referred the matter to CONCACAF, who ultimately decided that Haiti would go through. The most damning aspect of the whole affair was that the CFU had clearly not learned their lesson from the globally-infamous, farcical match between Grenada and Barbados at the same tournament in 1994 -- video of which has been viewed over two million times on YouTube – the CFU being fortunate that the exact situation did not reoccur in 2016 had a team needed to extend play beyond 90 minutes for any reason.
CONCACAF’s reaction to the absurdity was swift -- though there is evidence their subsequent actions were already planned. In March 2017, they opened an office in Jamaica and quickly took control of all of the region’s competitions. Gone were the CFU Caribbean Cup and CFU Club Championship, to be replaced by the CONCACAF-backed Nations League, Caribbean Club Championship, and Caribbean Shield. After this power move, the Caribbean Football Union, for all intents and purposes, faded to oblivion.
The merits of CONCACAF’s complete takeover of football in the region are debatable. Without question, the CFU following the 2011 corruption scandal, was at a low ebb. After a landmark partnership with Digicel for the 2006-2010 Caribbean Championships/Caribbean Cups which saw massive local promotion of the tournament, as well as highlights packages and live matches broadcast around the world, subsequent tournaments were poorly covered both locally and internationally and, as demonstrated, poorly organized. With the region’s hegemon, Jack Warner, removed from power, along with his acolytes throughout FAs in the region, a relative power vacuum saw the region begin to drift listlessly. Without doubt, many would point out that CONCACAF’s Nations League has been a positive move for football in the Caribbean, with 100% participation from all member FAs a big improvement on past tournaments, when many national teams often went years without playing so much as an international friendly.
While the Nations League has been an improvement, at least on the pitch, fundamental problems persist throughout the Caribbean. On a personal level, I have been very vocal in my criticisms of top-level football governance, with a few notable exceptions who I would not want to tar with this broad brush, of FAs across the Caribbean. (I must categorically state that this is not a criticism of the people working, often in volunteer roles, in the everyday operations of FAs and football in the region). To lay bare here the laundry list of fundamental ways that the game across the region must be handled more professionally in order to progress would be unproductive and would likely require another lengthy article. Progress on basic aspects of the game is well within reach for many FAs – indeed, it has already been seen in some corners -- and in many cases would not be very difficult to attain, but to do so would require upsetting the status quo, which many are not willing to do. It is my belief that, if the region, or even an individual FA, is to make any positive strides forward, it must do so under its own impetus.
As such, until Tuesday, my biggest criticisms of the past two Concacaf regimes in relation to Caribbean football, would have been their general apathy toward promoting the game in region. This was perhaps best-evidenced at the Caribbean Shield competition, a second-tier international club tournament featuring the non-professional domestic clubs in the region. For the last two editions of the Shield, Concacaf has featured little-to-zero coverage on their website in terms of match reports or match data, and what little there has been has been rife with errors, such as incorrect results or players being given as playing for the wrong team. Media coverage such as live streaming of matches or even live updates from matches has been non-existent from Concacaf, despite the fact that at least one broadcaster confirmed that they had offered to stream these matches. For these players, the amateur and semi-professionals who are in the most dire need of exposure, the Shield has been a major failure on Concacaf’s part. Even on the most-laudable aspects of Concacaf’s changes, there was cause for eye-rolling, such as when the ignorant commentators on the Nations League broadcasts would, amongst other basic errors, mispronounce the names of the teams playing (e.g. “an-geel-lah”, “ant-teeg-gwah and bar-boo-dah”, “gwah-duh-loo-pay”, “duh-min-ick-cah”, etc.). These sorts of issues -- which now pervade Concacaf’s coverage of the game in the region, yet had been rendered largely non-existent in Caribbean football until the aforementioned 2011 corruption scandal occurred -- could perhaps have been written off as pedantic or punctilious given other far larger positive strides, such as the aforementioned Nations League.
This all changed on Tuesday with FIFA’s announcement that, in conjunction with Concacaf, the new, William Wallace-led TTFA executive had been ousted in favor of a FIFA-selected normalisation committee. In general, I am not against FIFA’s intervention in the region. In fact, I welcomed their decision to intervene against the deeply corrupt, Osiris Guzman-run FA in the Dominican Republic in 2018 with open arms. However, the blatant imperialistic overtones and clearly unethical aspects of this decision against the TTFA were laid bare in the media almost immediately and do not bear repeating here. The most galling aspect of this decision was that the William Wallace-led TTFA, after only three months, had been a bright spot in Caribbean football, namely with their push for the transparency and accountability that have been so badly lacking in both Trinidad and Tobago as well as most other FAs across the region. Another clear difference between this case and the aforementioned Dominican Republic case, was the massive difference in local public opinion about the respective FAs. As someone who had already become disillusioned with the poor governance of the game in the region, for this decision to be taken against a new FA that was taking positive, almost unheard of, steps towards progress was unconscionable.
It is with the above in mind that I would call on the 30 remaining member FAs of the Caribbean Football Union to unite behind the ousted TTFA administration as they take their case against FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Without question, I would understand that there might be hesitancy from individual FAs to “upset the apple cart” in view of their own interests in relation to Concacaf and FIFA. To be one of the possibly-few to stick their head above the parapet would be a risk that I have no doubt many, all being well, would rather not make. With that in mind, a strong, reunited CFU would leave the organization with 31 Concacaf members – a large majority in the region – and 25 FIFA members, which would be a force to be reckoned with as far as the global governing body is concerned. If the CFU were successful with such an action, it could then begin to chart their own course forward without fear of bullying from their “big brothers” at Concacaf and FIFA – and would also help protect themselves from similar action in the future. For the sake of football in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Caribbean as a whole, I hope the CFU will do so.
Nice article :beermug: informative
I would add that our corrupt govts have added to our plight and have not contributed to sport and football to help us get rid of these parasites bc they themselves are also parasites
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Opinion: FIFA article 8.2 promotes bullying
By Paul-Andre Walker (digicelsportsmax.com)
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the most powerful sporting body in the world and it should be.
FIFA is in control of 211 football associations throughout the world, in a sport that is the most popular and profitable on the globe.
However, the association hasn’t always used that power in the most judicious ways and recently went through a harrowing couple of years with evidence of widespread corruption beating down on its reputation.
Many bans and jail sentences later, FIFA has tried to change its image with new, progressive bosses with a more inclusive management style.
But, in truth, FIFA is a fiefdom and that was made very clear in the events in Trinidad and Tobago over the last week.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) board does not exist anymore and its president, scratch that, former president, looks set for a lengthy legal battle to change that.
I do not want to get into the who is right and who is wrong, even though there are questions FIFA should answer.
Here are the facts as we know them.
An arm of FIFA called the Bureau of the FIFA Council investigated the financial affairs of the TTFA, which had just gone through the process of electing a new president in William Wallace just over three months before.
According to the council’s findings, the TTFA was in bad shape financially, so bad, that it risked the possibility of insolvency if the situation were not arrested.
Further, the council says it found that there was no plan to assuage the situation, leading it to replace the TTFA’s board with a normalization committee that would be in place for a maximum of two years after which it would hold elections to create a new board with its own mandate.
On an interim basis, FIFA installed former TTFA Finance Manager Tyril Patrick to oversee the day-to-day activities of the organization before the normalization committee could be properly vetted, organized and begin to work.
According to FIFA, that normalization committee would be given a mandate to:
1. Run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
2. Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
3. Review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
4. Organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
But today, the TTFA has no direction as interim boss, Patrick, declined the position after lawyers for Wallace wrote to him, calling his appointment illegal, or at the very least unconstitutional.
In fact, the former TTFA boss has not taken his ousting lying down and is contemplating taking his grouses to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, pointing out that FIFA has ignored his plans to get the TTFA out of debt and is claiming prejudice against his administration, pointing first up to the timing of the ‘coup d’etat’ and the implications of a friendship with the TTFA’s previous boss, as well as inconsistencies regarding a FIFA-TTFA joint project dubbed ‘The Home of Football’.
I won’t look at any of that, however. I am more interested in the entrenched laws that allow FIFA to make a decision of this nature.
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president, Randy Harris sympathises with the ousted TTFA administration but believes FIFA well within their rights to install a normalization committee.
Harris is right because of article 8.2 of the FIFA statute.
Article 8.2 states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time’.
It is here that I have a problem though.
I suppose, FIFA, as arbiters of the sport, must have in its bylaws, appropriate actions to ensure the continued growth of the sport throughout the world, but I find this article distasteful.
The article admits that the council is removing an ‘Executive’ body which has been duly elected by administrators of the sport within a country. This means, FIFA is saying it reserves the right to ignore the democracy of an entity when it has a mind to do so.
I say ‘has a mind’, because it is the council who decides what is an ‘exceptional circumstance’ and in this instance, it very well might be. But the fact that it is FIFA making this judgement, is problematic.
Each Member Association has elections and it is there that they decide if the fate of their organization can be managed by its leaders. It should certainly not be as easy as it was for FIFA to overturn that decision.
It means, in essence, if a Member Association does not operate its own affairs just the way FIFA says it should, and each country has a different set of circumstances to deal with that could mean varying ways of operating such affairs, then you could find that you have no say.
Harris pointed to this fact in a radio interview with Trinidad and Tobago’s i955 FM’s ISports radio, saying “The Trinidad and Tobago FA has found itself in a sad situation which all of us in the Caribbean could be in tomorrow.”
Therein lies my problem. This particular ‘takeover’ may very well be warranted with the TTFA in debt to the tune of TT$50 million, the question is, who decides this, and how can it be that ‘little’ Member Associations have no say in deciding whether or not they need outside help?
You can’t just ignore a lot of facts and just state they are right lol that’s BS
He’s not taking into context so many factors
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The unmasking of Andre Baptiste, is it?
The unmasking of many
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
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https://www.youtube.com/v/dgDxvaCsZMI
A man might be bowling outside the offstump without being especially wide of the mark.
Both ah allyuh should consider that neither of you is necessarily particularly right or particularly wrong conceptually.
As an imaginary Yardman once said: "Cho, smaddy fi dead but oonoo ah kill de wrong smaddy."
Or was it?
"Ooonoo ah kill de wrong settah people, but cho smaddy fi dead."
Similar, but not the same.
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Nice article :beermug: informative
I would add that our corrupt govts have added to our plight and have not contributed to sport and football to help us get rid of these parasites bc they themselves are also parasites
Thanks. I actually cleaned up the article a lot so as to seem professional and not completely just call out the FA Presidents across the region for being corrupt and only wanting to promote in their own self-interests. I also wouldn't have used "teeth" in the title, but as I believed it was going to be published, I cleaned that up too
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
Patos did the right thing but should have done that for other sectors of society as well..
Rowley even if he had the money to allocate he wouldn’t bail them out, he’s a part of that old corrupt system.. he can throw words to make himself look like the greater person when in fact that’s to throw people off... when collusion is concerned you have certain people that will pretend to be against their friend to not let on they are complicit, it’s deception
The real test is when the economy rebounds and the dust settles, will the govt do the right thing, I doubt it, 6 decades and they haven’t
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No way I as a citizen of TT will endorse throwing AWAY that can of money behind football at any time. And health care, job rate, crime/police/prison and a whole lot of ppl and issues require funding and in a mess. At all. The world we live in might be round but don’t mean we must kick ppl around for football. How many ppl on Ntl teams affected, Fifa could hall they European based mc. They can’t stop us from playing football no how, no where. The TTFA and Ntl football can be helped, yet there is greater more critical injuries that require attention. That will be so for awhile, a generation, maybe more.
So if that is a criteria to measure corruption. Your measurements gon be way off for awhile. Best yuh dun with football and devote the rest of yuh life to making music for BTB. Definitely more successes there and more good for yuh ppl too .
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Coming to think about it, if I was Wallace, I woulda walk away, f00ck FIFA and T&T football, too much to fix.
Jack Warner shot T&T down and David John Williams made sure we dead and then bury we.
Wallace and Keith, cut allyuh losses unless allyuh sure this could be fix in 4 years.
Ah was finally falling back in love with T&T football under Wallace, now this.
This is FIFA problem now, they feel they could fix it.
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Nov 2019 to Now. In 4 mths the newly Elected cause all this damage? Fifa couldn't see the damage before, even when it was pointed out to them. The man show them a nice gift wrapped cardboard box and he Boss call it the Center of the world of football. TT, with we litlle struggling football economy. We must really be chupidee. The government couldn't inspect, audit or get involved in anyway, but yet they gave, and still man bringing them up on charges. Do let dem FIFA conquistadors tie up yuh brain. The new bauble is seeing yuhself in the Media, and that's when yuh know yuh achieve and reach ? Really ? If that's the case, it means many don't even realize what's the true beauty of what our strengths and Culture was.
https://pixel.facebook.com/OPMTT/videos/vb.154758538210003/562609554550193/?type=2&theater
An attempt is being made to control us, and we arguing if we should give in. Rowley talked of management and mismanagement, maybe he already knew, but couldn't get involved, maybe he went on history, he couldn't see the future at that time. So how the controllers didn't see that history then. Of course they did, they helped make it. Now all of a sudden 4 mths later is an issue. If they don't do the right thing by us, let them rock so.
Meanwhile we TT (government and ppl) currently in Dire Straits, we done give them we money and we land, and them want to come and normalize that - ;D Just reminded me of ' Money for Nothing; song
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
Patos did the right thing but should have done that for other sectors of society as well..
Rowley even if he had the money to allocate he wouldn’t bail them out, he’s a part of that old corrupt system.. he can throw words to make himself look like the greater person when in fact that’s to throw people off... when collusion is concerned you have certain people that will pretend to be against their friend to not let on they are complicit, it’s deception
The real test is when the economy rebounds and the dust settles, will the govt do the right thing, I doubt it, 6 decades and they haven’t
come on mate i'm not even going there with you. i only recently started going to trinidad for lengthy periods and i don't know much about the politicians and their conduct. as it stands i kind of get a anti pnm vibe from you and i not in that. had too many of that vibe as a boy with my grandparents and their politically adversarial neighbors.
and another thing, you seem to have good ideas but sometimes your delivery is very aggressive and far fetched. and to include dr rowley with DJW and gianni infantino is nonsensical and ludicrous mate. that man ain't got nothing to gain by involving himself with this horseshit.
if you hate the man on a personal level then fine, keith rowley means nothing to me that i have to defend his honor, but from the little i know of the man, i think you are way off in your judgement of him, and knowing human nature so well, i believe in my heart that this man is a no nonsense bloke who will not involve himself with these unscrupulous people. shame on you contro, you went too far now. just when i started respecting you, and there you go again with the lunacy.
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
Patos did the right thing but should have done that for other sectors of society as well..
Rowley even if he had the money to allocate he wouldn’t bail them out, he’s a part of that old corrupt system.. he can throw words to make himself look like the greater person when in fact that’s to throw people off... when collusion is concerned you have certain people that will pretend to be against their friend to not let on they are complicit, it’s deception
The real test is when the economy rebounds and the dust settles, will the govt do the right thing, I doubt it, 6 decades and they haven’t
that's nonsense. dr rowley took money from a lean treasury to finish the brian lara cricket academy, he also contribute whatever little he could IN THESE ECONOMICALLY LEAN TIMES to the cpl, and i believe if we were in a better position fiscally and had surplus budgets in the past few years, then i believe it would have been very possible, more so with him than any other prime minister.
and while we're on the subject of trinidad, when was the last time you went to trinidad? some people just stay in the diaspora and caste aspersions based on popular opinions.
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Coming to think about it, if I was Wallace, I woulda walk away, f00ck FIFA and T&T football, too much to fix.
Jack Warner shot T&T down and David John Williams made sure we dead and then bury we.
Wallace and Keith, cut allyuh losses unless allyuh sure this could be fix in 4 years.
Ah was finally falling back in love with T&T football under Wallace, now this.
This is FIFA problem now, they feel they could fix it.
i feel you mate, but they've come too far to give up now. in all honesty this DJW bloke is the classic example as to why trinidad has such a high murder rate, it's people who behave like him who are more than likely the victims of murder.
this man had his turn, he wrecked the sport and got voted out, yet he made sure to it to bring down the new administration behind the scenes. if he lived in brazil, italy or columbia he would have been killed even before the election.
i also get the feeling that this is more the doing of mantagliani than infantino, i believe that this mantagliani bloke is in the pockets of the bigger federations in concacaf, and according to jack warner CFU should have never stood up and let this bastard get away with the new world cup format, but look at the past few CFU presidents, they were all fifa yes men under the proverbial table catching crumbs like max, and make no mistake about it, those guys ain't going in to bat for no federation under their care.
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Coming to think about it, if I was Wallace, I woulda walk away, f00ck FIFA and T&T football, too much to fix.
Jack Warner shot T&T down and David John Williams made sure we dead and then bury we.
Wallace and Keith, cut allyuh losses unless allyuh sure this could be fix in 4 years.
Ah was finally falling back in love with T&T football under Wallace, now this.
This is FIFA problem now, they feel they could fix it.
This is exactly what they're banking on. Defeat. Give up!
It is called Learned Helplessness
I applaud Look Loy and Wallace.
They need our support now more than ever. FIFA can be exposed and TTFA under men of integrity can prevail.
Thank God the likes of Mandela and MLK didn't walk away. And I'm sure they had many thoughts and opportunities to do so.
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TTFA awaits FIFA's next move.
By Ryan Bachoo (Guardian).
Instead of shooting for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the T&T Football Association (TTFA) has opted to pass. The surprise decision comes four days after world football’s governing body, the FIFA failed to meet the TTFA’s 8:00 am deadline of Monday 23, March to respond to concerns about the normalization committee it announced will be is coming to run the day to day affairs of T&T football last Tuesday in place of the TTFA four elected officers which included President William Wallace and the Board of Directors.
The now-disbanded body is awaiting the FIFA’s next move before it acts, however, it does see Tyril Patrick’s rescindment of his role as the appointed supervisor of T&T football following a legal letter to him dated March 20, while the FIFA installs a normalization committee as a small victory.
Matthew G W Gayle, one of the TTFA’s lawyers working on the matter told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday, “In a sense, the letter (From FIFA) dated March 17 has no effect because it purports to appoint someone who has themselves said they are not interested, they’re stepping away and this has nothing to do with me anymore.”
However, while it may appear that the matter has stalled until either party moves the next piece in what is seemingly becoming a complexed game of chess, there is a 21-day timeline before the TTFA loses its right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
Gayle is adamant that it remains on the table. He added, “In as much as we have the right and are preserving our right to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport we are of the view that the letter, in and of itself, is redundant because of the correspondence from Mr. Patrick so it’s a situation where FIFA, clearly, there is no effect of their letter.”
With no correspondence from the FIFA since the TTFA sent its last letter dated Friday March 20 from attorney Dr. Emir Crowne to FIFA, the TTFA is hopeful the global body in charge of football will make a U-turn on its initial decision to announce a normalization committee.
Gayle said, “Quite clearly, as a matter of law, the TTFA was created by an act of Trinidad and Tobago parliament. It governs under the constitution which comes out of that act of parliament. No external body which includes FIFA has the right in the operation of the sovereign body that is the TTFA.”
Guardian Media Sports obtained a copy of the e-mail sent last Friday which said the TTFA’s lawyers were defending the interests of T&T football “against such rank corrupt, unjust, bullyboy tactics.”
It went further to demand that FIFA’s letter three days before being withdrawn.
<FIFA letter to the TTFA>
The March 17, letter from FIFA's secretary general Fatma Samoura to Ramesha Ramdhan, the general secretary of the TTFA in part reads:" Under these serious circumstances, and in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa statutes (which foresees that executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Fifa Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time), the Bureau of the Council decided, on 17 March 2020, to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
Its mandate includes the following tasks:
to run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be appointed by the Fifa administration, in consultation with Concacaf. Although those eventually appointed for the normalisation committee will assume their duties with immediate effect, all members of the normalisation committee will have to pass an eligibility check to be carried out by the Fifa Review Committee in accordance with the Fifa Governance Regulations.
The confirmation of the appointment will be contingent upon the outcome of the eligibility check.
Furthermore, the Fifa administration, in consultation with Concacaf, reserves the right to revoke the mandate of any of the members of the normalisation committee and/or to appoint further members at any time.
The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee whose decisions are final and binding, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances, including in the event that their mandate as a member of the normalisation committee has been revoked or that they resign from their position.
The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by the FIFA administration. The exact date for the normalisation committee to complete its mandate will be communicated by the Fifa administration once its members have been appointed.
In the interim and before the normalisation committee is fully operational, the TTFA administration’s management will be supervised by Mr Tyril Patrick, who will directly report to Fifa. The TTFA administration—in its entirety—will therefore report to Mr Patrick until the normalisation committee has been put in place.
Finally, a forensic audit of the TTFA accounts could be commissioned if deemed necessary by the relevant parties. We thank you for taking note of the above and trust in your full cooperation in this matter."
RELATED NEWS
TTFA lawyers give FIFA more time.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
THE lawyers for former TTFA (TT Football Association) president William Wallace – Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle – are giving FIFA, the world’s governing body for football, more time to withdraw their letter to the former TTFA executive, in which they stated their desire to implement a normalisation committee.
TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan said on Tuesday, “They (lawyers) are giving FIFA some more time to withdraw the letter. But they advised that we have 21 days to file an appeal to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport).”
Asked how much time FIFA has been given, Ramdhan replied, “certainly within the 21 days.”
Last week, Wallace, through his attorneys, threatened FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura with formal legal proceedings.
The attorneys described the committee as “attempted unlawful interference in the operation of the sovereign body”. FIFA was given until 8 am on Monday to respond.
Dr Crowne and Gayle also issued a pre-action protocol letter to TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick, who was named by FIFA to head the local governing body, until the normalisation committee was implemented.
However, Patrick, on Saturday, decided against taking up the offer, leaving the TTFA without a head.
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Composition of normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago confirmed
FIFA.com
Following the decision taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council to appoint a normalisation committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and the subsequent consultation process undertaken by FIFA and Concacaf, the composition of this committee can now be confirmed as follows:
Mr. Robert Hadad (Chairperson);
Ms. Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson);
Mr. Nigel. L Romano (member).
The FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf, will appoint two more members in the coming days.
The mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following:
to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;
to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The members of the TTFA normalisation committee will assume their duties with immediate effect and, as per standard procedure, will have to pass an eligibility check. Their confirmation will be contingent upon the outcome of the eligibility check.
The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.
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Hadad heads TTFA Normalisation Committee.
T&T Guardian Reports.
FIFA has appointed businessman Robert Hadad to head a three-member Normalisation Committee to oversee the revitalisation of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, following its decision to take over the reorganisation of the local body from William Wallace and his executive recently.
Apart from Hadad, the committee includes Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson) and Nigel Romano (member).
A release from FIFA on Friday confirmed the appointments, adding that FIFA, in consultation with regional governing body CONCACAF, will make two more appointments to the team soon.
FIFA said the committee will have as its mandate the following:
Run the TTFA'S daily affairs
Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA
Review and amend the TTFA statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress
Organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
FIFA added that the committee members will still have to pass an eligibility check and their confirmation to the positions will be contingent upon the outcome of those checks.
It said the normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions once fresh TTFA elections are called.
The committee has 24 months in which to achieve its mandate and will cease to function once this has been achieved.
Wallace and his executive were voted into office late last year but soon fell into financial difficulty after its accounts were frozen as one of its former coaches, Kendall Walkes, sued to recover salaries owed to him. This prompted FIFA to step in recently, disband the executive and start a restructuring process.
RELATED NEWS
Hadad leads TTFA normalisation committee
Stephon Nicholas (Newsday).
Businessman Robert Hadad has been appointed chairperson of the FIFA normalisation committee that will take over control of local football. FIFA also appointed Judy Daniel (deputy chairperson) and Nigel L Romano (member) to the committee. FIFA made the announcement via e-mail on Friday and said it will appoint two more members in the coming days.
The FIFA press release said the mandate of the normalisation committee includes: to run the TTFA's daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; to review and amend the TTFA statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The normalisation committee has 24 months maximum to fulfil its duties. No member of the normalisation committee will be permitted to vie for a post in the next TTFA elections.
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Three more balls left in this over.
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Three more balls left in this over.
If they gor out, I hope dey out voopin
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Under the TTFA constitution, only the general membership can remove the football president via article 38.4, which says:
‘The motion for dismissal shall be decided by means of secret ballot. For the motion to be passed, a majority of three quarters of the valid votes is required’.
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TTFA should be suspended by FIFA
By Corey Greaves (Barbados Advocate)
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) should be suspended with immediate effect, says veteran football administrator Adrian Donovan.
FIFA in the last couple of days has instituted a normalisation committee to oversee the TTFA footballing affairs for the next 24 months.
Donovan has thrown his support behind the decision of the FIFA/Concacaf mission that recently visited the shores of Trinidad and Tobago to examine the books and operations of the TTFA.
Donovan noted that the mission’s findings included a lack of financial management and a financial governance which they said was non-existent, with no formal internal policies and
internal controls in place.
“I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever,” said the veteran football administrator who has been involved with football for over 35 years, “that the TTFA will be suspended.”
This would mean they will receive no funding and will have to undergo a forensic audit.
If or when they are suspended, they will join a list that includes Guinea, Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, Macau, Kenya, and more recently the oversight of St. Vincent and Guyana.
According to the media reports coming out of Trinidad and Tobago, the TTFA is in debt to a tune of TT$50 000 000 which has been accumulated over a period of time, and with no formal and proper plan in place to reduce this deficit, FIFA has stepped in.
This comes just after the TTFA unveiled a grand plan for the development for the Arima Velodrome Stadium, which is expected to cost in the region of US$47 million. This project was to help reduce the large deficit.
However, there is no cabinet approval as regards the land and the Arima borough has not signed off on the project.
This controversial home of football, Arima Stadium, which was perceived to be the saviour in the reduction of this outstanding debt, is part funded by FIFA and the equipment that was purchased came from the FIFA Forward Project.
The TTFA has also been accused of not paying NIS for its staff for a number of years, and just a couple days ago an investigation was ordered by the police commissioner of T&T Police Service into the disappearance of equipment valued at approximately TT$120 400.
Donovan stated, “In all of this FIFA is absolutely correct if they have to suspend this national federation because all those who signed off on the FIFA Statutes are expected to follow their rules and regulations.
“The particular statute which FIFA has invoked simply states that in accordance with Article 8 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statutes, …executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the FIFA council, in consultation with the relevant Federation, and replaced by a normalisation committee for specific period of time.”
Since this particular statute was invoked, two former FIFA employees have come out to address the ongoing matter, one being Austin Jack Warner, who stated in a recent interview that the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) was non-existent. A couple days ago his fellow Trinidadian, Keith Look Loy, came to the defence of the present TTFA board.
Under Warner, who headed the CFU for over two decades, a number of the Federation leaders were banned in the Bin Hammam corruption scandal.
Donovan said that the Keith Look Loy is unjustified in his unfounded statement that the CFU is not representing their case against FIFA.
“This matter has gone past CFU and into the courts of law, and therefore CFU and any other regional Federations simply have no say in the matter.
“It would be wise for the present TTFA board to withdraw their case that is headed to the court of arbitration because if not they will feel the wrath of the FIFA.”
Donovan added, “When you sign under FIFA rules and regulation and you have no legitimate evidence as to how you have spent their money, it is only a matter of time before the weight of FIFA would be felt.”
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‘Fifa has been compromised [in Home of Football scandal]!’ Spicy letter that predates Fifa take-over.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
“A cursory glance of the paper trail suggests that there was a lack of proper oversight [on the Home of Football],” stated Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, in a letter to Fifa chief member association, Veron Mosengo-Omba on 22 January 2020.
“The president of the TTFA [David John-Williams] appears to have been the project manager, the contractor as well as the purchaser…”
The aforementioned excerpt forms part of an exchange between Ramdhan and Mosengo-Omba. It was issued in response to a letter from the Fifa official, while Fifa stalled on paying its annual subvention of US$1.2 million (TT$8 million) to the TTFA for operations.
It also predated the world governing body’s decision to send a joint fact-finding mission of Concacaf and Fifa officials to the island in February.
On Tuesday, Fifa, supposedly on the advice of the team that visited Trinidad last month, announced it would send a normalisation committee to the twin island republic and effectively nullified last November’s election and booted the Board—including president William Wallace—out of office.
Mosengo-Omba, a DR Congo national, personally informed controversial TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick that Fifa had just put him in charge of local football.
“As was mentioned in the decision [by the Fifa Council], you will assume immediate interim responsibility, in collaboration with Fifa,” he told Patrick, “for all TTFA matters until the normalisation committee members are appointed.
“Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this respect and looking forward to meeting you soon.”
Two months before Fifa sent the TTFA into meltdown, Mosengo-Omba, who had direct oversight of the Home of Football project—partly funded by Fifa—wrote Ramdhan to enquire about the William Wallace-led administration’s plans to deal with its significant debts.
“In light of the significant amount of outstanding debts the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has had in the past with third party suppliers,” Mosengo-Omba told Ramdhan, on 13 January, “the FIFA administration would like to follow up on the current status of those debts. It is important to highlight that assets financed by the FIFA Forward Programme cannot be, under any circumstances, mortgaged.
“The FIFA Member Associations Division is fully committed and available to support your member association in every necessary aspect in order to achieve positive outcome.”
In the build-up to last November’s local football election, Mosengo-Omba allegedly told three board members—according to one member of that trio, who spoke on condition of anonymity—that Fifa would not support the TTFA if then president David John-Williams was voted out of office.
Another board member and technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy, who was an influential figure in Wallace’s successful campaign, also complained that the Congolese repeatedly ignored pleas to investigate alleged financial mismanagement of the project.
And, in Ramdhan’s response to the Fifa official, he made his feelings clear that the world governing body—and Mosengo-Omba in particular—lacked the moral authority to lecture the TTFA on the matter of debts or the fate of the Home of Football.
“The HOF project which is at the centre of this conversation was intended to bring an end to our financial woes, which had plagued the TTFA for over a decade,” stated Ramdhan. “It is now ironic that, in 2020, it has become the source of our financial distress.
“[…] I knew you were a central figure during the construction phase of this project. I can also appreciate that the responsibility entrusted upon you in facilitating the process may have fallen outside the core area of competency required for such a project.
“It is now incumbent upon Fifa, given this experience, to review the processes employed in their Forward Project programs in order to avoid reoccurrence of this nature which can compromise Fifa. I am of the view that Fifa has indeed been compromised in this scenario.”
Having identified the high-ranking Fifa official as ‘a central figure’ operating ‘outside [his] core area of competency’ in what could prove to be a financial scandal, Ramdhan went further by suggesting that the TTFA intended to not only investigate the Home of Football but also make their findings public.
“Based on what we have discovered during the recent visit of the [Fifa] development manager (DM) and the assistant development manager (ADM) in the presence of the TTFA financial manager,” stated Ramdhan, “the manner in which the project was being managed should have raised red flags.
“Given the revelations, it is curious and even suspicious that the project continued uninterrupted. This has attracted speculation from several quarters of the society which has the potential of further damaging our already tainted image both locally and abroad.
“[…] The current administration is in the process of engaging a quantity surveyor with a view to achieving two objectives. The first objective is to produce a professional report and make public the findings, so as to avoid speculation of vindictiveness on the part of the current administration.
“The second objective, which is of paramount importance, is to address all the issues with a view to resolving them and operationalise the building.”
A day later, on 23 January, Ramdhan wrote Mosengo-Omba again; and, this time, he addressed the initial query of the Fifa official.
“Consequent to my previous letter of 22 January, I wish to further advise that Fifa Forward funding will not be used to satisfy any third party debts,” stated the TTFA general secretary. “It is our stated objective to use funds intended for development in those specific areas. We intend to avoid the pitfalls of the past where moneys were used contrary to purpose.
“The current administration has a plan to deal with the debts inherited and we intend to meet and discuss this with our creditors… We have already signed a memorandum of understanding with a foreign company for a project in Trinidad that would factor in a debt of TT$50 million incorporated in the overall cost of the project to satisfy the debt.
“[…] I do hope that this information will serve to address any concerns which Fifa may have and bring some level of comfort as I can discern some unease about our debt situation.
“Rest assured we are up to the task of rebuilding our administration and restoring our image and look forward to cooperating with Fifa to achieve our collective objectives.”
Mosengo-Omba did not respond to either email.
Ramdhan said he was justified in the statements made to the Fifa official, since he was only replying to Mosengo-Omba’s letter and also fulfilling Wallace’s campaign promise of transparent governance.
“We had to [investigate the Home of Football and make our findings public] because we campaigned on being open and transparent,” said Ramdhan, who was a part of Wallace’s United TTFA slate, “especially as I wrote to Fifa before [in 2019] and they never took me on. And what we discovered was frightening to say the least…”
By then, Wallace’s administration had been in office for roughly two months and not received any of the Fifa subvention that was due. A cursory check, according to Ramdhan, revealed that other associations had already been wired money from the global body’s Zurich headquarters.
After a couple of enquiring phone calls, Ramdhan said he was put on to Stacey Daniel, who is a manager in the Fifa Finance Department.
“She told me we would get it [by the end of January] but we didn’t,” Ramdhan told Wired688. “So I asked who was above her that could explain what was going on. And that was when I was put back on to Veron.”
It took three days for Wallace to get Mosengo-Omba on the phone and, then, his response was supposedly that Fifa would send a team to Trinidad to investigate its finances; and they would ask Concacaf to fund the TTFA until that was completed.
Ramdhan was frustrated.
“Fifa should have investigated what I sent to them [about John-Williams and the Home of Football],” he said, “not our administration.”
The TTFA is due US$150,000 (TT$1 million) annually from Concacaf for football development. Based on money from Concacaf, the local football body was able to send the Women’s National Under-20 Team on a two week pre-tournament tour in the Dominican Republic.
The team, coached by Richard Hood, went on to finish as quarterfinalists at the Women’s Concacaf Under-20 Championship.
In February, Fifa finance coordinator Mehmet Dirlik, Concacaf finance manager Alejandro Kesende, Concacaf finance department Dally Fuentes and Valeria Yepes, an independent auditor visited Trinidad to speak with local officials, including Wallace, Ramdhan and TTFA finance committee chairman Kendall Tull.
If the new TTFA administration had any information regarding spending at the Home of Football that Mosengo-Omba might have missed, the joint-Fifa and Concacaf team would surely have been apprised of it.
Wallace, Ramdhan and Tull felt the meetings went well and the foreign contingent allegedly vowed that Fifa would turn on its financial tap shortly. But that never happened.
In the interim, Wallace held a press conference on 4 March, in which he pointed to the financial mismanagement of the association by John-Williams, aided by his finance manager, Patrick—who was still a TTFA employee.
Tull, according to a source, advised against the press conference and, in particular, the revelations concerning over TT$4 million due for PAYE, BIR and health surcharge payments.
Again, Ramdhan said Wallace’s decision to speak up was in keeping with their mantra of ‘transparency’.
On 7 March, the TTFA board met and passed a motion to investigate the perceived financial mismanagement of the John-Williams-led administration. The probe would have included spending on the Home of Football project, which was supervised by Mosengo-Omba.
The first order of business was to be the suspension of Patrick, who, members felt, could not operate as finance manager while being investigated.
Wallace was asked to get a legal letter to that effect, which would be issued to Patrick. However, the president stalled as he wanted to get a replacement for his finance officer first. And, even then, Wallace felt Patrick should be given time to ‘hand over responsibilities’ to his successor.
Ten days after that meeting, with Patrick still in place and no replacement identified, Fifa took the atomic option of firing the entire TTFA board under article 8.2 of its statutes, which states:
‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.’
Fifa, in a missive on its website, stated that its decision: ‘follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA [which] found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.’
Ramdhan believed that Fifa was always going to be hostile to the current TTFA administration, whether he crossed swords with Mosengo-Omba or not.
“I think they were always looking to do this,” he said. “And even when I wrote those letters, they didn’t even have the courtesy to reply to me or the TTFA. So I don’t think those letters played a part in this.”
Mosengo-Omba might be having the last laugh now. However, the TTFA has announced its intention to appeal Fifa’s decision, through attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle of New City Chambers.
If the allegations made in Ramdhan’s letter to Mosengo-Omba bare any truth, the TTFA’s promised investigation could have had dire implications for Fifa’s image under current president Gianni Infantino.
Ironically, if there is financial misconduct at the Home of Football—Look Loy suggested last year that TT$16 million unaccounted for from the project—then there is only one man with as much to lose as as John-Williams and Mosengo-Omba.
And that is Patrick, the person who Fifa has now put in charge of the TTFA.
(Letter from Fifa to TTFA on 13 January 2020)
Dear General Secretary,
In light of the significant amount of outstanding debts the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has had in the past with third party suppliers, the FIFA administration would like to follow up on the current status of those debts.
It is important to highlight that assets financed by the FIFA Forward Programme cannot be, under any circumstances, mortgaged.
The FIFA Member Associations Division is fully committed and available to support your Member Association in every necessary aspect in order to achieve positive outcome.
Yours sincerely
Veron Mosengo-Omba,
Chief Member Associations Officer
(Letter for TTFA to Fifa on 22 January 2020)
Dear Mr Mosengo-Omba,
I thank you for your email of Monday 13 January. Your advice regarding the Home of Football (HOF) is duly noted. The new administration is fully aware of all the implications involved as we pursue the solutions to the problems we inherited. The significant debt you mentioned pose serious challenges for the TTFA and your offer to assist gives us hope.
During the visit of the Development Manager (DM) last week, as we perused the financial records of the TTFA, we discovered that funds intended for other areas were diverted to the HOF project resulting in the failure of the TTFA to meet its day to day financial obligations. Chief amongst them was the inability to pay the salaries of staff for the Christmas.
Presently, the outstanding balance owed in relation to the HOF to date is approximately TT$2 million. The amount of confirmed debt is TT$33,782,826.31, other payables are TT$15,211,861.50. Attached for your information and yet to be determined [is] TT$25 million, which represents two batters which are before the courts re: Jack Warner and Sheldon Phillips. These figures can change dramatically based on the current trend.
The HOF project which is at the centre of this conversation was intended to bring an end to our financial woes, which had plagued the TTFA for over a decade. It is now ironic that, in 2020, it has become the source of our financial distress.
A project which was opened with a lot of fanfare is now faced with issues which required additional funding to resolve. These issues vary from design and construction to safety and lack of the requisite approvals from agencies. This situation denies the TTFA the opportunity to benefit from such a significant investment.
I knew you were a central figure during the construction phase of this project. I can also appreciate that the responsibility entrusted upon you in facilitating the process may have fallen outside the core area of competency required for such a project.
It is now incumbent upon Fifa, given this experience, to review the processes employed in their Forward Project programs in order to avoid reoccurrence of this nature which can compromise Fifa. I am of the view that Fifa has indeed been compromised in this scenario.
Having said that, based on what we have discovered during the recent visit of the Development Manager (DM) and the Assistant Development Manager (ADM) in the presence of the TTFA Financial Manager, the manner in which the project was being managed should have raised red flags.
Given the revelations, it is curious and even suspicious that the project continued uninterrupted. This has attracted speculation from several quarters of the society which has the potential of further damaging our already tainted image both locally and abroad.
A cursory glance of the paper trail suggests that there was a lack of proper oversight. The president of the TTFA appears to have been the project manager, the contractor as well as the purchaser.
The current administration is in the process of engaging a quantity surveyor with a view to achieving two objectives. The first objective is to produce a professional report and make public the findings so as to avoid speculation of vindictiveness on the part of the current administration.
The second objective, which is of paramount importance, is to address all the issues with a view to resolving them and operationalise the building.
As we peruse the financial records of the TTFA, our preliminary findings suggest a lack of financial prudence on the part of the last administration. As a consequence, we have taken a decision to engage a forensic auditor to determine if any financial impropriety occurred as we are not prepared to carry that burden forward as we seek to reshape the association.
Yours sincerely,
Ramesh Ramdhan,
TTFA general secretary
(Letter from TTFA to Fifa on 23 January 2020)
Consequent to my previous letter of 22 January, I wish to further advise that Fifa Forward funding will not be used to satisfy any third party debts. It is our stated objective to use funds intended for development in those specific areas. We intend to avoid the pitfalls of the past where moneys were used contrary to purpose.
The current administration has a plan to deal with the debts inherited and we intend to meet and discuss this with our creditors. It is our intention to acknowledge the debts and, if necessary, give letters of comfort to avoid the courts of Trinidad and Tobago.
We have already signed a memorandum of understanding with a foreign company for a project in Trinidad that would factor in a debt of TT$50 million incorporated in the overall cost of the project to satisfy the debt. Officials of the said company will be visiting Trinidad in a couple weeks to discuss the public private partnership with the government of Trinidad and Tobago.
I do hope that this information will serve to address any concerns which Fifa may have and bring some level of comfort as I can discern some unease about our debt situation.
Rest assured we are up to the task of rebuilding our administration and restoring our image and look forward to cooperating with Fifa to achieve our collective objectives.
Yours sincerely,
Ramesh Ramdhan,
TTFA general secretary
Editor’s Note: Wired868 asked Fifa official Veron Mosengo-Omba a series of questions related to the announced normalisation committee and the Home of Football, including whether he noticed any financial irregularities in the project, why he had not recused himself from issues involving the TTFA due to a potential conflict of interest, and why Fifa decided to put TTFA’s finance manager in charge despite basing its decision to intervene on the football body’s supposedly catastrophic financial set-up.
He had not responded up to the time of publication.
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Infantino's revenge
By Philippe Auclair (josimarfootball.com)
Hardly anyone batted an eyebrow when Fifa announced that a “normalisation committee” had been set up in Trinidad & Tobago. But the key question is: Could this be nothing but an act of revenge from Gianni Infantino?
In football governance, the procedure known as ‘normalisation’ usually follows a well-travelled route: a local FA encounters critical financial, political or governance problems, contravening its own statutes in the process, as well as those of Fifa’s, which then has no choice other than to suspend the administration in place and take over the running of its affairs.
It is a depressingly common occurrence, which has affected countries as diverse as Uruguay, Benin, Kuwait, Argentina, Mali, Greece and many others in the recent past. So depressingly common, in fact, that hardly anyone batted an eyelid when Fifa, following a ‘fact-finding mission’ which had taken place in February, added Trinidad & Tobago to the list of MAs (Member Associations) under ‘normalisation’ on 17 March of this year. Trinidad & Tobago, the former playground of disgraced Fifa panjandrum Jack Warner…not exactly a surprise, is it?
Normalisation or elimination?
Except that this was a normalisation with a difference. The TTFA (Trinidad & Tobago Football Association) Board which had been summarily dismissed by Fifa had only been in place since November 2019. It had been elected – fairly, as everyone agreed – by representatives of T&T’s forty-six grassroots football associations on the strength of a programme of reform and renewal, had conducted audits of its shambolic finances, addressed the issue of debt head-on and fully cooperated with Fifa throughout, including during the ‘fact-finding mission’ which ultimately led to the verdict of ‘normalisation’. It made no real sense to dismiss a new administration which was in no way associated with the excesses and mismanagement of previous TTFA regimes, and, indeed, seemed to be doing what it could to correct the errors of the past.
It made no real sense – unless you looked at the rationale of Fifa’s drastic decision from a different angle, a purely political one that is. Listening to the central characters on the TTFA side of the story, as we have, and looking at the chain of events more closely, as we did, following the work done by Wired888 journalist Lasana Liburd in situ, it soon became clear that it was legitimate to change the main question from: ‘what went wrong in Trinidad & Tobago which prompted the normalisation?’ to ‘could this really be nothing but an act of revenge from Gianni Infantino?’
A sense of perspective is needed to understand why this question must be asked, and some recent history too, of how Infantino, then a candidate to the Fifa presidency, had found a key ally in the Caribbean nation, only to lose him a few months ago.
This ally is David John-Williams, until then the vice-president of the Trinidad & Tobago Pro league, who had been elected president of his country’s Football Association (TTFA) in controversial circumstances (a number of the delegates who voted for him appear to have been ineligible) on 30 November 2015, little over a month after Gianni Infantino had become the fifth and last man to announce his bid the for the presidency of Fifa.
The former was soon to play an important part in the latter’s campaign, drumming up support for the UEFA Secretary General in the Caribbean region, a part of the world whose influence in football politics far outweighs its population, as no fewer than 25 of Fifa’s 211 member associations hail from there. John-Williams’s successful lobbying was instrumental in securing Infantino’s election: a mere 27 votes separated the victor from the pre-election favourite Sheik Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa when Fifa made its choice on 26 February 2016 in Zürich.
“Teammates”
Gianni Infantino didn’t forget his due. Visiting Trinidad and Tobago for the lavish inauguration of the Fifa-funded ‘Home of Football’ complex in Couva, the Fifa president extolled the qualities of his ally in terms which left no one in any doubt of whom he, Infantino, would like to remain at the helm of the TTFA.
“I came to Trinidad and Tobago, and I was not believing to find somebody like [David John-Williams] in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “I have to say the truth. Because the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association was more or less in the same state as Fifa at that time. David was saying ‘shambles’, I say shambles was maybe a compliment for the state you found.
“We found a Federation which was under the earth. TTFA, Trinidad and Tobago Football, very sadly, was in the headlines for other reasons than football, even though linked to football. Today, we are here, and proud to be here, because today, Trinidad and Tobago is the capital of the world of football.”
This was on 18 November 2019, a mere six days before the TTFA was to vote in its presidential elections. John-Williams had campaigned for Infantino. Infantino was now campaigning for John-Williams, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this constituted the kind of direct interference on which Fifa tends to cast a stern eye in most circumstances.
But even the Fifa president’s fulsome endorsement did not prevent the TTFA associations to put an end to John-Williams’s four-year reign on 24 November. The incumbent had been beaten by a newcomer, William Wallace, a man well-known for his involvement in cricket administration in the region, by 26 votes to 20 in the second round of the election. Gianni Infantino had lost a ‘team-mate’, to use a word he’d used himself at the inauguration.
He did not forget this; and some say he didn’t forgive either, and that this is the true reason why the TTFA finds itself ‘normalised’ today. One of these voices is that of Keith Look Loy, Chairman of the Trinidad & Tobago FA’s Technical Committee and President of the TT Super League, who granted Josimar the exclusive interview which follows.
Keith Look Loy, which reason or reasons did Fifa give you to explain its decision to suspend an administration that had only been in place for less than four months?
“Well, first of all, when the election was held on 24 November, the new President, Mr Wallace, and his three vice-presidents, had never held office at the TTFA before. I was an ally of that group of officers, and the agenda was clear. We recognised there was a serious issue with financial mismanagement, and even misuse or abuse of funds, that the essential structure of the TTFA had basically collapsed and that, on the technical side, the programmes had totally collapsed as well. We went in there, looking to, firstly, establish exactly the situation of the finances, and, secondly, begin the restructuring of the association. Now, before that, the struggle to remove the previous administration went on for more of its term in office, at least three years out of four. Over the course of time, I and other members of the board repeatedly criticised the mismanagement of the TTFA in general and, in particular, of the Fifa-financed ‘Home of Football’
Were you in touch with Fifa at the time?
“Yes. Information and even, I dare say, revelations were passed on to the Director of Development for Africa and the Caribbean, Mr Véron Mosengo-Omba (one of Gianni Infantino’s closest friends and aides within Fifa), who visited Trinidad periodically to oversee the progress of the ‘Home of Football’ project, always saying what a wonderful job was being done. We repeatedly made our concerns known to him, and his stock answer was “this is not Fifa business, this is an internal matter for the TTFA and Fifa has nothing to do with it”. As far as Fifa was concerned, everything was fine”.
How much money are we talking about?
“$2,5m. A lot of money. About 18 or 19 million T&T dollars, depending on the currency rate of the day.”
What happened to this money?
“It wasn’t spent properly, it wasn’t accounted for. I, as a board member, fought a running battle with the president David John-Williams and his supporters on the board to get access to the financial reports. I eventually had to go to the High Court of Trinidad & Tobago. It took me several months, but I eventually got a court order requiring them to open up the books and to let me have a look, provide contracts for work being done at the Home of Football. What I discovered was that of all that money, 18 or 19 million, they could only provide contracts for 3 and a half million. And when I asked what happened to the rest of the sum, they told me the work had been paid on a cash basis. People were paid in cash! I told them this was the modus operandi of a criminal enterprise, not of a national association in any sport. This was last year, in 2019.”
Then you were elected. What did you do then?
“We discovered there was a lot more that was…what shall I say…unsatisfactory and even criminal under the law of Trinidad & Tobago, for example the repeated writing of cheques against accounts which had no money in then. The banks would just return them. We found that statutory payments for employees – PAYE deductions and national insurance contributions – were taken out of employees’ salaries and not paid to the authorities, which is a crime under our law.
I’m telling you all of this because, one, Fifa was directly involved in this because of its financing of the Home of Football project, and concerns had been raised with them before the advent of the new administration, over the course of two years, with no satisfactory response from Fifa; and, beyond that, the TTFA, like every other member of Fifa is subjected to an annual audit by Fifa in terms of broader financing. Fifa knew about this mismanagement, they had to. Fifa knew about the lack of correct financial procedure. Now, here is the sharp point of my arrow: the Fifa president Gianni Infantino came to Trinidad and Tobago six days before the election to inaugurate the Home of Football in a great display of pageantry, and he literally encouraged to vote for the existing administration back into office.
But the electorate rejected him, as it rejected the president of CONCACAF, Mr Montigliani, who’d said the same thing. Up to that point, Fifa was prepared to continue working with the TTFA. I believe that what has happened is an effort on the part of Fifa to cover up the activity of the last administration and to cover up its own complicity in what transpired, because they knew about it. Therefore, what they’re seeking to do is to set aside a legitimately-elected administration barely three and a half months in office, that bears no responsibility for the mess that was left behind. We are victimised for that. It’s a cover-up.”
Mr John-Williams was a close ally of Gianni Infantino during his campaign to become Fifa president in 2016…
“That is correct.”
…and he rallied support for Mr Infantino in the region. In your view, could it be the reason why Fifa, after turning a blind eye to what was happening within the TTFA, then decided to act?
“All of this is true. John-Williams was the first Caribbean FA President to come out openly in support of Mr Infantino when Mr Infantino was campaigning for his first term of office, They have remained fast friends. When Infantino came to open the Home of Football, a ceremony which was attended by the Prime Minister of T&T, the Minister of sports and other government dignitaries, he was on the record as saying “when you are in a team, you support your team-mates”. Which meant John-Williams, who was doing such a great job, blah-blah-blah. And that’s completely against the statutes of Fifa. They were allies, supporting each other.”
You’re basically saying that, had Mr John-Williams remained in office, none of this would have happened.
“This is exactly what I’m saying. Fifa would have continued to turn a blind eye to all of this nonsense which had been transpiring for four years. “
One thing which is very difficult to comprehend from the outside is why, after the new administration had been voted in and started cooperating with Fifa, suddenly, almost out of nowhere, the TTFA got a normalisation order. How did they justify that to you?
“They’re saying that they want to review our statutes. There have been some amendments to them; but the TTFA statutes were basically introduced into the TTFA by Fifa themselves in 2015! They supervised the revision of our statutes and they supervised the election of John-Williams himself! So they introduced the statutes which they now say there is a problem with. Their other argument is that the TTFA doesn’t have any financial structure, and there is the issue of debt.
It is a fact that the TTFA had operated in the four previous years, and a long time before that, without established financial controls, without accountability. When we came in, we established a finance committee run by two persons who have excellent reputations of integrity beyond reproach in this country. They examined what was there and produced a document, a report which outlined what the problem was and how we should proceed. We began by staging a seminar on the State of Play and creating a module of financial literacy for the members of the Board, so that they could understand how we would proceed.”
Did you inform Fifa of these measures?
“That document, which also detailed our plan to address debt relief, was given to a joint Fifa-CONCACAF delegation which arrived in Trinidad & Tobago on 25 February of this year. We held meetings with them on the 26th and the 27th, after which they left.”
But that was not good enough for them.
“It wasn’t. And they never gave us a copy of their delegation’s report.”
Then the normalisation order was produced on the heels of this visit.
“Yes. And this is how we found out that they had decided to impose a normalisation committee on the TTFA. The General Secretary of a Caribbean FA called me and said, “Keith, do you know about this?” By which he meant the normalisation order. I was astonished. I knew nothing of it.”
You mean that you, a TTFA Board Member, were not informed directly of the decision and had to go on the Fifa website to get confirmation?
“That is correct. That is a fact. And when we found out, our Secretary General wrote to Fifa, asking them for clarification and verification of this; and they wrote back to say, yes, apologising for having sent – or so they claim – the official notification to the wrong email address. After dealing with us for three months, they sent it to the wrong email address!”
Which steps did you take after receiving confirmation of the Fifa decision?
“We got our lawyers onto this. Now listen to this. The letter announcing the imposition of a normalisation committee came from Fifa’s Secretary General Fatma Samoura. But Véron himself wrote a letter to Tyril Patrick, the Finance Manager of the TTFA, appointing him caretaker manager of TTFA. Now this Finance Manager had been John-Williams’s right-hand man, complicit with the previous administration, whom we’d kept on because we needed to find out what was the situation in the finances, which none of us knew, to shine some light on this. And Véron chose him.”
How did you respond to this?
“We told this Finance Manager we’d file an injunction if he accepted the appointment, which he had, before backing off and writing to Fifa to tell them he wasn’t interested. As to now, because of COVID-19, nobody can enter Trinidad & Tobago, Fifa cannot send anyone and, to this day, they haven’t appointed anyone, any committee. So it’s a vacuum. Our position is clear: for us, Fifa does not have the authority under Trinidad & Tobago law to intervene in the internal politics of the TTFA. It is risky. Because there is law, and there is power. There is a rumour circulating that there is a list of people Fifa intend to ban – and I’m on it, I’m of them for sure – but that is just speculation. As of now, there has been no response whatsoever from Fifa.”
Are you prepared to go to CAS to contest Fifa’s decision?
“We’ve informed Fifa of this already, and this is exactly where we’re going. They have not responded to this either.”
Have other Caribbean FAs come out in support of you?
“First, internally, the local associations which compose the TTFA itself have showed very strong public support for the officers who have been removed by Fifa. Externally, CONCACAF has had nothing to say. We have reached out to the Caribbean Football Union which, these days, is a paper organisation controlled by CONCACAF, and reached out individually to every single Caribbean FA privately, verbally; and they’re calling in to say ‘we support you’. But they’re scared. They’re afraid. Officially, we stand alone against Fifa.”
In the hours following this interview, the TTFA received a letter from Véron Mosengo-Omba, in which he informed them of the appointment of three members of the normalisation committee, another two to join them after consultation with CONCACAF . TTFA’s response was still under review as we published this story, which will be updated as fit in the days to come.
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and the plot thickens.
I’m praying we do come out on top in these proceeding.
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Infantino's revenge
By Philippe Auclair (josimarfootball.com)
This guy is a pretty famous journalist, nice to see the story finally gaining traction around the world.
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Hadad is now in charge... he’s connected to the govt... this alone tells me the govt is also complicit in this nonsense... I’m haopy we are now seeing who truly controls football and wants no part of an honest and progressive federation
Further to this, I find Fenwick is unusually quiet, what is his opinion of what is happening? He recently crossed swords with Look Loy and the board, is he happy about this or is he seeing the travesty unfolding and supporting Look Loy?
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
I have a lot against both pnm and unc... there are things I know that gives me reason to not like either one of them that I won’t speak about on a public forum...
Hadad is now in charge and this goes straight back to the govt and certain parts of the private sector, they are hell bent on using ttfa as an avenue for corruption and keeping down Cfu and Caribbean football... it’s becoming more evident by the day, which I warned everyone about
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
Patos did the right thing but should have done that for other sectors of society as well..
Rowley even if he had the money to allocate he wouldn’t bail them out, he’s a part of that old corrupt system.. he can throw words to make himself look like the greater person when in fact that’s to throw people off... when collusion is concerned you have certain people that will pretend to be against their friend to not let on they are complicit, it’s deception
The real test is when the economy rebounds and the dust settles, will the govt do the right thing, I doubt it, 6 decades and they haven’t
that's nonsense. dr rowley took money from a lean treasury to finish the brian lara cricket academy, he also contribute whatever little he could IN THESE ECONOMICALLY LEAN TIMES to the cpl, and i believe if we were in a better position fiscally and had surplus budgets in the past few years, then i believe it would have been very possible, more so with him than any other prime minister.
and while we're on the subject of trinidad, when was the last time you went to trinidad? some people just stay in the diaspora and caste aspersions based on popular opinions.
In Hollywood there is Hollywood accounting, a prime example is the movie Forrest Gump... over 678 million made on worldwide box office receipts, with only a 55 million dollar budget and almost the same in marketing costs, as it ran through WBs worldwide output network.
In any normal situation you would figure, Forrest Gump made money right? Well it didn’t, or according to WBs accounting it lost money. Meaning the author who created it, licensed the option made very little afterwards outside of writers residuals etc... This prompted him to not license the sequel to the movie studio, hence the reason we never saw a part two...
Let’s just say, the the public sector of certain nations work in a similar manner, whether it be energy, steel, oil etc. Meaning, how do we show losses, how do we show we didn’t make a profit? How do we cook the books to enable siphoning of public funds etc.. facts that are not Foreign to some people but some prefer silence....
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
I have a lot against both pnm and unc... there are things I know that gives me reason to not like either one of them that I won’t speak about on a public forum...
Hadad is now in charge and this goes straight back to the govt and certain parts of the private sector, they are hell bent on using ttfa as an avenue for corruption and keeping down Cfu and Caribbean football... it’s becoming more evident by the day, which I warned everyone about
please mate leave me be, i can’t do this with you anymore, i’m burnt out with your conspiracy theories from the last administration, now youre back at it with the government and FIFA supposedly being in bed together because this haddad bloke is somehow a pnm supporter. look man I don’t like to curse, but right now your comments have me livid and left me feeling like cursing at you.
no more of your ridiculous notions, the government has absolutely nothing to do with fifa, they don’t need fifa for anything, in fact they have more money than fifa. you sir are a nutter.
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Hadad is now in charge... he’s connected to the govt... this alone tells me the govt is also complicit in this nonsense... I’m haopy we are now seeing who truly controls football and wants no part of an honest and progressive federation
Further to this, I find Fenwick is unusually quiet, what is his opinion of what is happening? He recently crossed swords with Look Loy and the board, is he happy about this or is he seeing the travesty unfolding and supporting Look Loy?
Partial credit. Badaboom badabing.
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Hadad heads FIFA's Normalisation committee in T&T.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
A three-member FIFA normalization committee (NC), headed by chairman Robert Hadad, was appointed on Friday to take over the governance of T&T football with immediate effect.
FIFA, the world governing body for the sport of football, in collaboration with the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) will appoint two more members over the coming days, a release from the FIFA stated.
The appointments came even as displaced members of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) which included president William Wallace and his three vice presidents were, through their Attorneys Dr. Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle, on the verge of applying to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to have the decision by the FIFA to appoint a normalisation committee to manage the affairs of local football rescinded.
FIFA, on March 17, took a decision to enforce articles 8.2 of its Statutes, which states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalization committee for a specific period of time."
The committee is not supposed to last more than two years, with a mandate that also includes organising fresh elections of a new administration of the embattled football association.
Hadad, a businessman by profession who is one of three Chief Executive Officers of the HADCO Group of Companies, will bring a wealth of experience from the corporate community in T&T, as attempts are made to turn around an organisation that the FIFA considers being on the verge of insolvency following a claim by the TTFA that it has a crippling debt of TT$50 million.
Apart from Hadad, a member of Queen's Park Cricket Club, the committee also comprises retired international banker Nigel Romano, a Director and Partner at Moore T&T, who is also a former chairman of the JMMB Bank, as well as American-based Attorney and Environmental Law Specialist Judy Daniels, who is well respected in Environmental Law.
Guardian Media Sports was reliably informed that all three were interviewed before being appointed.
Romano told Guardian Media Sports on Friday that: "I agreed to serve and do whatever I can base on my experience and expertise which is banking, accounting and organisational management.”
"I will be bringing proper governance and then hope that we would get football back to where it should be, which is getting the youths involved, getting women involved, and making a difference to football in T&T with a more professional managing association. There is work to be done, and we will be reaching out and working with all the various interested parties to come to the right conclusions and outcomes,” said Romano.
He later admitted being stepping into uncharted waters over the next few months given the poor state of football in T&T in general, saying he has no real idea of what the road ahead will look like.
Daniel is an attorney-at-law of over 30 years experience and has had a broad practice in civil law. She started working in the Attorney General’s Chambers of T&T where she focused on providing advice and litigation on constitutional law, contracts and disputes, tort and liability claims. Daniel worked as Legal Consultant to Environmental Advisors Inc. her own self-starter company in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Daniel is highly regarded as a key advisor by senior managers as having a unique combination of strong legal and technical skills in a broad range of areas and the ability to produce workable solutions.
<Wallace team to make decision on Saturday>
When contacted Wallace on Friday said he will be meeting with his vice president Clynt Taylor, Joseph 'Sam' Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick to decide on their next step now that the FIFA has announced the Normalization Committee to manage T&T football for the next 24 months.
He said whatever decision they agree upon will be communicated to their lawyers Matthew GW Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne on Saturday. He said, "What decision we come to will be in the best interest of T&T football."
On March 20, the TTFA through its lawyers sends a pre-action protocol letter to FIFA to have the governing body for the sport rescind the appointment of a normalisation committee via a letter from its Secretary-General Fatima Samoura dated March March 17 and addressed to general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan.
The TTFA lawyer Gayle, also sent a letter to Tyril Patrick, who FIFA appointed as caretake administrator on March 17, until the normalisation committee, warning him that if he complies with FIFA's instructions then the formal proceeding will be initiated through the High Court. He was given until Monday 23 to respond but instead to communicated on March 21 that he indicated to FIFA that he was no longer interested in the appointment.
Meanwhile, following news on Friday that FIFA had announced the name of members of the normalisation committee Michael Awai of T&T Pro League club AC Port-of-Spain, said the debt that has burdened the country for many years will be cleared finally, while other revenue-generating initiatives such as the Home of Football, will finally be put in place. Awai, the founder of FUTGOF, Future Generation of Footballers in T&T Academy, added, the sport has been in dire need of people with a business hand and the team of Hadad, Romano and Daniel and the others two members to be named will turn the sport around.
The mandate of the normalisation committee is:
- to run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
- to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
- to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and
- to ensure their compliance with FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
RELATED NEWS
FIFA appoints businessman to head normalisation committee.
By Stephon Nicholas (Newsday).
EXPERIENCED businessman Robert Hadad believes he can help “clean up” the TT Football Association’s (TTFA) financial woes, making it clear that he is not aligned to any past administrators.
Hadad, who started the HADCO Group almost 30 years ago with his brothers Joseph and John, has been hired by FIFA as the chairperson of the normalisation committee to help bring some financial stability back to the TTFA.
On March 17, FIFA made the decision to disband the TTFA executive led by president William Wallace.
FIFA and CONCACAF found that TTFA was not in a position to run football effectively in a fact-finding mission and decided to break up the TTFA hierarchy and form a normalisation committee to take over. On the reasons to disband TTFA, FIFA said, “The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
Wallace was only voted into office in November, 2019 and said he inherited a debt of $50 million.
Days later, it was revealed that former finance manager of the TTFA Tyril Patrick was appointed to lead the normalisation committee, but he declined the position. Patrick was an employee of the TTFA administration under former president David John-Williams, who led the local football body for four years until November, 2019.
Hadad will be joined by deputy chairperson Judy Daniel and committee member Nigel Romano on the normalisation committee. According to a media release, “FIFA administration, in consultation with CONCACAF, will appoint two more members in the coming days.
“The mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following: to run the TTFA’s daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.”
The normalisation committee’s job will end when the assigned tasks are complete, but it would not last more than 24 months.
Hadad, speaking with Newsday, said he understands the new committee’s role. “Of course everybody knows the reason why FIFA is putting in a normalisation committee, because the finances of TTFA are all over the place and they are not sure who to believe…as far as I understand my job today and the team I am with is to perform a fact-finding mission on exactly what the payables are and to rectify it in terms of a payment plan.
“How do we pay off all these debts? How do we put the TTFA back on solid foundation?”
One of the financial issues facing the TTFA recently is lack of documentation concerning the Home of Football in Couva. TTFA members continuously asked former president John-Williams to make information available.
Hadad does not have experience in football administration, but is confident he can get the job done with his experience and his lack of allegiance.
“I guess they were looking for somebody who is in business…maybe they were also looking for somebody who is not aligned to any of those parties that fought (in the elections) against David John-Williams (in) William Wallace and (Richard) Ferguson. I am not aligned to any of them.”
Concerning his fellow committee members Daniel and Romano, Hadad said they are respectable, responsible, hard working people and is excited to work with them. Hadad, who worked with Romano in the past, said he planned to talk with his fellow committee members on Friday.
When Hadad accepted the job he told FIFA he would be accessible to the media.
“I am going to be very transparent, I am extremely transparent and I told FIFA that.” Hadad said the impact of coronavirus was also a factor in him accepting the offer from FIFA.
“What made me take the job I’ll be very honest with you. In light of what has happened in the last couple of weeks I have been really moved to say corporate Trinidad cannot just sit down on the outside and not be involved in the running of key institutions in our country.”
Hadad, who is satisfied that the country has come together during the coronavirus pandemic, said he was inspired to do more.
“Is this a sign that maybe I should be doing something more? When FIFA asked me if I would do this job I said ‘yes’ because life is so short, life is too short and I said ‘let me try, at least try.’ I believe in myself and I think I have the ability to bring people together.”
This story was originally published with the title "Hadad leads TTFA normalisation committee" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.
Businessman Robert Hadad has been appointed chairperson of the FIFA normalisation committee that will take over control of local football. FIFA also appointed Judy Daniel (deputy chairperson) and Nigel L Romano (member) to the committee. FIFA made the announcement via e-mail on Friday and said it will appoint two more members in the coming days.
The FIFA press reelase said the mandate of the normalisation committee includes: to run the TTFA's daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; to review and amend the TTFA statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The normalisation committee has 24 months maximum to fulfil its duties. No member of the normalisation committee will be permitted to vie for a post in the next TTFA elections.
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This entire chapter of the history of football in Trinidad and Tobago is rich with irony, laden with fertilizer and not lacking contradictions. As the narrative builds there are certain inescapable conclusions from the mapping of the truth that will haunt some people even in their graves.
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So wait ! I want ask if I may, wasn't it not too long ago that the very > Fifa responsible for having statutes adopted by the ttfa with their Fifa approval ? Now Fifa wants the very statutes they previously approved of changed ! Who de azzzz do they think they're fooling ? Games and politics obviously at play here . :cursing:
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What is upsetting is, why didn't FIFA just send their people to work alongside Wallace and company to assist in fixing things.
Then again, we all know why.
I guess the Home of Football findings was the game changer.
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The simplistic answer is fraud / corruption / hiding behind Fifa doors ! There is a sneaking suspicion what has been discovered thus far is getting too close to Fifa doorstep , so the so called big shots made the decision to make their move now to minimize any potential implications. It's called damage control !
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Who cares, we’ve already been sent to our rooms and mammy and daddy is getting ready to shag. with us out of the way of their naughty plans they can experiment with all the new posses mommy read and higlited on cosmopolitan. ;)
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Who cares, we’ve already been sent to our rooms and mammy and daddy is getting ready to shag. with us out of the way of their naughty plans they can experiment with all the new posses mommy read and higlited on cosmopolitan. ;)
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Not sure who was sent to his or her room homie , but I refuse to buy into that notion for lack of a better expression , when something is unjustiable or unjust you call it out as is , expose it for what it is .. it's corruption to its core . Whether or not the ttfa proceeds with its case to cas or not that's a decision they'll have to make but I support them 100 % ! It's left to be seen what will transpire..
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what if the government was to absolve this debt, would it be accepted by fifa or could it be perceived as government tampering? and if not, would fifa accept such an intervention and remove their measures on the TTFA?
I suggested this a while back but people said why should the govt bail them out... I’m like because it impacts the nation in a positive manner...
Now you will get pnm saying, oil is plummeting so we don’t have the money to help football but even when oil was high it’s the same excuse.. at least Wallace and Ramdhan was much more transparent than previous admins and could have been trusted to bail out football for the betterment of our society
It wouldn’t be considered tampering if they inject it into football directly and monitor payments with no direct control over it.. but then you have to ask yourself, Rowley was there when infantino visited and was neck and neck... I wouldn’t put it past them that the govt is also complicit as well and have sold out
listen mate I’m not going to get into the political ping pong with you but i certainly disagree with the notion that the the prime minister had any hand in this nonsense, especially when he called out infantino when he made his speech at the opening of the home of football, even I was embarrassed when rowley went on to say that fifa was a mafia and initially he was very skeptical about getting involved in the project, and he would reserve all judgement until later.
from my position, dr rowley is a straight shooter who speaks his mind and it showed when he had no reservations in telling the big boss infantino how he felt about fifa and was pulling no punches in that regard. as for the government paying this debt off, it’s not a pnm or unc thing, it all depends on if it’s legal and would it be supported by the tax payers themselves.
it’s an election year, and with this virus eating away at the worlds economy and oil prices at an all time low, this might be the worst time to even think about parting with funds for insignificant ventures. remember how patrick manning was reviled for giving the World Cup players a million each?
I have a lot against both pnm and unc... there are things I know that gives me reason to not like either one of them that I won’t speak about on a public forum...
Hadad is now in charge and this goes straight back to the govt and certain parts of the private sector, they are hell bent on using ttfa as an avenue for corruption and keeping down Cfu and Caribbean football... it’s becoming more evident by the day, which I warned everyone about
please mate leave me be, i can’t do this with you anymore, i’m burnt out with your conspiracy theories from the last administration, now youre back at it with the government and FIFA supposedly being in bed together because this haddad bloke is somehow a pnm supporter. look man I don’t like to curse, but right now your comments have me livid and left me feeling like cursing at you.
no more of your ridiculous notions, the government has absolutely nothing to do with fifa, they don’t need fifa for anything, in fact they have more money than fifa. you sir are a nutter.
And how exactly do you think Hadad name came up? Do you actually think they pulled his name from a hat? why was he recommended and from who? If the Dictator recommended him, which he pulled from the private sector, Hadco, the Hadad brothers, very much connected to the govt ....
You doubted me beforehand and you were wrong, it’s like you don’t want to believe even though it keeps revealing itself to you..
You can do your corruption and steal etc, but why was the team losing in the process? Bc they sabotaged the damn team, it’s not just about power and money, it’s about TT not being a force in the region and the cfu both on and off the field..
Keep playing blind brother ...
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I haven’t heard a word from the national coach after his argument with Look Loy and crew.
Does anyone know where he stands in this? Is he against the Wallace team, for? Or is he on the fence and waiting to take his orders from fifa?
Someone needs to call him out and get his opinion, too many sell outs locally in TT, it’s time we see everyone’s true colours...
Hadad and Romano know absolutely nothing about football and they have been hired to cover up the corruption and take orders. I am not surprised they are willing to undermine Wallace and Look Loy.
In TT there is no loyalty, just corruption and undermining...
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What is upsetting is, why didn't FIFA just send their people to work alongside Wallace and company to assist in fixing things.
Then again, we all know why.
I just the Home of Football findings was the game changer.
Remember in the constitution it stated that you have to be or in a management role in football for X amount of years, that’s what the criteria was?
Well fifa circumvented that, Hadad has no experience in the area, now he is running football in TT for the next two years. SO why was that clause even in the voting process? Bc now they have a compadre bc when you think of it, it was a dumb clause but they only exercised getting rid of it now when they were caught in corruption and TT football was heading in the right direction
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Former national footballer and acting Chairman of the T&T Pro League, Brent Sancho, is in full support of the normalizing committee set up by FIFA to govern the affairs of Trinidad and Tobago football.
https://www.youtube.com/v/lLVv8Vm3LCw
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Wallace: Our decision must not affect T&T football
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA), which is led by William Wallace, will decide today on whether it will challenge the decision by FIFA to appoint a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football, or if they will just accept it.
Wallace told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that his decision will depend on the impact it will have on the sport locally.
"If it jeopardises T&T football then I am willing to walk away. I would not be selfish and see the sport destroyed. And the good thing is that all the other officers in the TTFA are on the same page, so whatever decision we make, it must, in no way affect the sport,” Wallace said.
The football association Attorneys Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle have been awaiting the response of the TTFA executive on what will be their next move, in light of the recent decision by the world governing body for the sport of football, FIFA, to appoint a five-member committee to govern T&T football after it was found to be heading towards insolvency.
FIFA on March 17 agreed to appoint a Normalisation Committee for local football after a visit by a team from the FIFA and CONCACAF found that there was not a proper structure for local football, and there was also an inability to clear a $50 million debt that has been crippling local football.
The TTFA, through its lawyers, has said it will seek justice on the FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and had already sent a letter to the FIFA asking it (FIFA) to rescind its decision to send a Normalisation Committee. They had given the FIFA up to March 23 to respond but the FIFA never did.
On Friday, FIFA backed up its decision by appointing businessman Robert Hadad to head the five-member committee. He will have as his deputy Environmental lawyer Judy Daniels and Nigel Romano, another businessman, to carry out FIFA’s mandate of running the TTFA's daily affairs; Establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress, and to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
The committee is to be joined by two other members, who FIFA, in collaboration with the CONCACAF will name in the coming days.
Wallace said yesterday that in addition to protecting T&T football, he and his members have had to consider the huge cost involved in challenging FIFA through the CAS, as well as the repercussions they could face in challenging the world governing body for football.
"We are hearing that we face challenges of not getting the support of the FIFA if we are successful against the FIFA through the CAS.
"I can tell you though, that we face a serious injustice," Wallace told Guardian Media Sports, adding that he is uncertain if he will consider going up for re-elections when the committee has finished its mandate by the two-year period.
"I think it is a bit premature to think about that but I may see a way that I can assist T&T football and may consider it, I don’t know. It all depends on how I can help T&T football."
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Former national footballer and acting Chairman of the T&T Pro League, Brent Sancho, is in full support of the normalizing committee set up by FIFA to govern the affairs of Trinidad and Tobago football.
https://www.youtube.com/v/lLVv8Vm3LCw
i can’t stand the best bone in this man’s body.
By the sound of his voice You could actually visualize him trying his best to hold back his laughter, who laugh last is the name of the game though, i hope yuh laugh good.
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Thank god that there’s justice in the world, it may not always show up when we want it but it shows up when we least expect. jack warner thought that he would never be dethroned, he was in government as the deputy political leader and minister of works and transport, he was also fifa Vice President, concacaf president, CFU president and chairman of the election center of excellence and chairman of joe public, and one by one he started crumbling.
first he lost his transport ministry, then he was banned from FIFA losing all three portfolios in succession, then he was totally removed from the government, then the center of excellence was taken from him, then he lost his football club, then he was indicted by the FBI and is awaiting extradition, now today, the most venerated individual the man who wore many hats is about to lose his freedom, I only hope infantino and montagliani is taking notes, because their fall is immanent, just like blazer, blatter and Jeffery web.
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Mr Wallace, TT Football is already affected, afflicted and/or infected, regardless of your decision. Even if FIFA themselves pay off the 50 M debt, and put the football back in one of their puppets hands, what from past history and puppeteers modus operandi (inclusive of puppet masters, Veron et al) tell you where our football will be. No sir, you would not have any more negative effect on our football than what there is already. Unless your lawyers themselves run up a further significant bill that add to the debt - your only contribution to the debt. New FIFA corruption, any corruption, is your duty to expose to the best of your ability as others have recently done. Otherwise if you are aware of a crime and choose to do nothing aren't you complicit. Does our football absolutely need FIFA to develop within the next decade ? Does FIFA need us ? Martinique has strong support of France, but their players do quite well outside of FIFA, Yet still a member of CFU and CONCACAF.
True, you guys are the ones facing the music, but if y'all leave, will football continue to dance to the new old music. We weren't dancing before. Best Wishes, and God Help in your decisions.
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Probably reliving Belgian flaskbacks... He'll keep his head down - he's wanted that job for over a decade
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He might not want to end up as pub trivia: Name a NT coach who never actually coached a single match during his tenure.
While this matter is one on which the advisable path is for the NT coach not to make a pronouncement, it's just the sort of circumstance that Terry Fenwick is likely to have a more than mild opinion on. The thing is, whichever way yuh map it, he's in the crosshairs. The heavy lifting is not mandatory for everyone.
Water carriers have a role and silence is also a temporary weapon.
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Mr Wallace, TT Football is already affected, afflicted and/or infected, regardless of your decision. Even if FIFA themselves pay off the 50 M debt, and put the football back in one of their puppets hands, what from past history and puppeteers modus operandi (inclusive of puppet masters, Veron et al) tell you where our football will be. No sir, you would not have any more negative effect on our football than what there is already. Unless your lawyers themselves run up a further significant bill that add to the debt - your only contribution to the debt. New FIFA corruption, any corruption, is your duty to expose to the best of your ability as others have recently done. Otherwise if you are aware of a crime and choose to do nothing aren't you complicit. Does our football absolutely need FIFA to develop within the next decade ? Does FIFA need us ? Martinique has strong support of France, but their players do quite well outside of FIFA, Yet still a member of CFU and CONCACAF.
True, you guys are the ones facing the music, but if y'all leave, will football continue to dance to the new old music. We weren't dancing before. Best Wishes, and God Help in your decisions.
Ent.
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Wallace: Our decision must not affect T&T football
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA), which is led by William Wallace, will decide today on whether it will challenge the decision by FIFA to appoint a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football, or if they will just accept it.
Wallace told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that his decision will depend on the impact it will have on the sport locally.
"If it jeopardises T&T football then I am willing to walk away. I would not be selfish and see the sport destroyed. And the good thing is that all the other officers in the TTFA are on the same page, so whatever decision we make, it must, in no way affect the sport,” Wallace said.
The football association Attorneys Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle have been awaiting the response of the TTFA executive on what will be their next move, in light of the recent decision by the world governing body for the sport of football, FIFA, to appoint a five-member committee to govern T&T football after it was found to be heading towards insolvency.
FIFA on March 17 agreed to appoint a Normalisation Committee for local football after a visit by a team from the FIFA and CONCACAF found that there was not a proper structure for local football, and there was also an inability to clear a $50 million debt that has been crippling local football.
The TTFA, through its lawyers, has said it will seek justice on the FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and had already sent a letter to the FIFA asking it (FIFA) to rescind its decision to send a Normalisation Committee. They had given the FIFA up to March 23 to respond but the FIFA never did.
On Friday, FIFA backed up its decision by appointing businessman Robert Hadad to head the five-member committee. He will have as his deputy Environmental lawyer Judy Daniels and Nigel Romano, another businessman, to carry out FIFA’s mandate of running the TTFA's daily affairs; Establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress, and to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
The committee is to be joined by two other members, who FIFA, in collaboration with the CONCACAF will name in the coming days.
Wallace said yesterday that in addition to protecting T&T football, he and his members have had to consider the huge cost involved in challenging FIFA through the CAS, as well as the repercussions they could face in challenging the world governing body for football.
"We are hearing that we face challenges of not getting the support of the FIFA if we are successful against the FIFA through the CAS.
"I can tell you though, that we face a serious injustice," Wallace told Guardian Media Sports, adding that he is uncertain if he will consider going up for re-elections when the committee has finished its mandate by the two-year period.
"I think it is a bit premature to think about that but I may see a way that I can assist T&T football and may consider it, I don’t know. It all depends on how I can help T&T football."
Dahis what people will tell yuh but it is not a position that FIFA could sustain institutionally even if there were to be political manoeuvres made in-house to frustrate the TTFA.
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Wallace: We are deliberating next move.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
OUSTED president of the TT Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace, said his team is not rushing into a decision on what their next move would be after a normalisation committee was selected to run the TTFA.
On Friday, local businessman Robert Hadad was chosen as the chairperson of the normalisation committee. He will be joined by deputy chairperson Judy Daniel and member Nigel Romano. According to a media release the FIFA administration, in consultation with CONCACAF, will appoint two more members in the coming days.
FIFA said the mandate of the normalisation committee will include establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA.
The normalisation committee’s job will end when the assigned tasks are complete, but it would not last more than 24 months.
On March 17, FIFA made the decision to disband the TTFA executive led by president Wallace.
On Saturday, Wallace said his team is uncertain what the next move will be after the three-member normalisation committee was chosen.
“We are still contemplating our next move. We are certain that whatever we do we do not want to affect football in TT negatively, so that is a consideration that we are definitely putting in the mix. Therefore, based on that we have to be careful as to how we proceed, so we are not running into anything with any kind of haste. We are taking our time to deliberate on this before we make our next move.”
FIFA and CONCACAF found that TTFA was not in a position to run football effectively in a fact-finding mission and decided to break up the TTFA hierarchy and form a normalisation committee to take over. Among the reasons FIFA gave to break up the TTFA was the massive debt facing local football, which is said to be $50 million.
Wallace was only voted into office in November, 2019 and inherited the debt.
Days after Wallace and his executive were removed, it was revealed that former finance manager of the TTFA, Tyril Patrick, was appointed to lead the normalisation committee, but he declined the position. Patrick was an employee of the TTFA administration under former president David John-Williams, who led the local football body for four years until November, 2019.
Before Patrick turned down the position, Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle, the sports lawyers representing Wallace and his former executive, sent Patrick a pre-action protocol letter on March 20.
The lawyers warned Patrick that if he attempted to interfere with the operations of the TTFA and the operations of the executive then they would seek assistance from the courts to prevent him and other people from doing that.
Prior to the three members being appointed to the normalisation committee, Gayle said they intended to fight FIFA for breaking up the TTFA. They are stating that Wallace and his team were elected and an external body has no right to take control of a local body.
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CFU member: Dear TTFA, you broke the unwritten rule against ‘witch hunts’
Wired868.
“Based on my experience as a president, nine years now, the parent bodies don’t like those witch hunts because they are considered counter-productive to football development.
“[…] There’s an unwritten script that was set up by the parent bodies and it seems your member association didn’t follow that script…”
The following is a letter written by the football president of a member association within the Caribbean Football Union (CFU)—in response to a request for support by Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan:
Dear general secretary Ramdhan,
Your email and its contents are well received and understood. I was waiting for 24 hours to pass to see if the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president, executive committee or a member association (MA) would [have] responded to your email. Maybe they did privately.
The CFU has changed over the years. Everything happens now in a vacuum and only a privileged few gets to know what’s happening. Sorry to tell you but every MA is on its own if it has an issue or problem. You have to report directly to Fifa or Concacaf appointed staff to bring your issue to light, then it will be resolved [based] on their findings.
The CFU is non-existent when it comes to assisting in solving conflicts. There [have] been great strides made on the administrative side: [with] the hosting of youth and girls tournaments and adopting new statutes to be in-line with Fifa and Concacaf. But it’s not a political force, as it was in the past.
The assistance and solidarity you are seeking would not be openly given by the majority of the countries, based on what has been put in place by the parent bodies and what line the CFU president and his executive committee is currently holding.
Football administration is a tedious task and there is a fine line between development work and political [witch] hunts. Almost all presidents and new administrations in football go through a scenario of [having to decide] if the will devote time, money and resources on the past administrations’ dealings, or concentrate on the present and future.
Based on my experience as a president, nine years now, the parent bodies don’t like those witch hunts because they are considered counter-productive to football development.
After reviewing the documentation you presented, it seems that witch hunt was a part of your agenda. There’s an unwritten script that was set up by the parent bodies and it seems your MA didn’t follow that script.
I’m not picking sides but what I saw in the media, it seems there was a lot of miscommunication between the parent bodies and your MA. The three entities saw the situation differently.
Looking at it from far, it seems an injustice was done to your MA by removing a duly elected executive committee just under four months from being in office. I just wished cooler heads could [have] prevailed before it had reached this far.
This kind of drastic action could [have] happened to any MA if there is miscommunication or misperception of the situation on the ground in a particular country.
I wish you well in your fight and I hope the other Caribbean countries support you in your quest for information and reasoning as [you take] your case forward.
Regards,
Editor’s Note: Wired868 agreed to publish this letter from a CFU president anonymously.
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Glasgow tells TTFA to co-operate with FIFA
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
POPULAR event promoter Randy Glasgow has given his opinion on the current situation concerning the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA.
Glasgow believes former president William Wallace and the now disbanded TTFA executive should not battle FIFA on their decision to appoint a normalisation committee.
FIFA appointed a normalisation committee on Friday to run the affairs of the TTFA for a maximum of two years, which will mainly be responsible for clearing the $50 million debt the local football body is currently facing.
Wallace was elected as president of the TTFA in November 2019 and inherited the heavy debt. Wallace and his team are now looking at their legal options with the help of sports lawyers Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle.
In a release to the media, Glasgow said, “FIFA made the rules and only they could alter it, which means you cannot and will never win them.”
Glasgow encouraged TTFA to not take any legal action against FIFA. “My advice to TTFA – save your legal fees and co-operate with FIFA and its team. Two years is not far away. If you won an election once you could win twice. By then all the debts will be paid off and resources needed to move forward will be available. Why the resistance?”
Glasgow believes the normalisation committee will benefit T&T football. “Think it over chairman Wallace and your team. If you have the national interest, footballers (and) other stakeholders at heart please let the national restructuring and rebuilding start immediately.”
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Not withstanding speculation, politics, conspiracy theories, hypothesis, or any other private or hidden agenda, what is are the implications of this action by FIFA ? Did we lose our focus on the game in all this?
Is this move one to ensure:
A. Financial and administrative competencies are in place to conduct the " business" of football in Tn T?
B What is the pass success of committees like this in resolving the situation in other countries?
C. Will FIFA assist the appointed committee in rectifying the debt and management of TTFA?
It never cease to amaze me that certain elected chair persons of TTFA were struggling by the challenges of running profitable footballl clubs yet felt that the skills or competencies they possess could be efficient to manage the nation's football.
This move by FIFA does tug at the ego and the optics of our abilities to take charge of our affairs. What has resulted here, is one compiled of years of ineptitude and mismanagement.
If in two years local appointed directors could rectify this situation then is this not an outcome that would benefit TnT?
I am astonished that for the sake of comparison within the region that a country like Haiti with an economy less flattering than ours is able to achieve success on the field in their National teams?
How are they managing this ?
What is the role of our pro league executives in this? Pro league owners ar the end of the day is about making money and attempting to make a profit from the sport- is the love and deep desire for the game and the success of our national teams a priority?
I grew up in an era prior to the pro league and suffice to say the national passion, regional rivarilies were unsurpassed to community and national support for football.
The very structure that was suppose to support the growth and support the player may also be adding to the demise of our focus on the game in and of itself and the focus of those elected to safeguard it.
Today we are politicking the outcome and decision of FIFA - and yes I too am shamed that it had to get to this stage but could we be objective and montitor the impact this may have on bringing back a focus on the game for TnT .
We need to wash our hands clean of this insidious virus which has been plaguing our football for decades- need to isolate from corruption and kickbacks self politizing and grandstanding and distance ourselves from the detractors . Focus on the game and revive a national passion for our country as a footballl nation. You can't just talk this it has to be instilled and be embedded in how we run our business throughout each individual player to each club right up to the pro leagues and our TTFA. We have to have a new normal not a constant rehashing of what was - eradicate the virus from our football once and for all.
My two cents.
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He might not want to end up as pub trivia: Name a NT coach who never actually coached a single match during his tenure.
While this matter is one on which the advisable path is for the NT coach not to make a pronouncement, it's just the sort of circumstance that Terry Fenwick is likely to have a more than mild opinion on. The thing is, whichever way yuh map it, he's in the crosshairs. The heavy lifting is not mandatory for everyone.
Water carriers have a role and silence is also a temporary weapon.
:applause: :applause: :applause:
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How does the appointment of this normalization committee affect the present situation ? Does all the work and strategic planning done by the ousted TTFA administration become null and void? Are all the coaching appointments from senior team to U-15 cancelled and no longer in effect with the new committee charged with naming replacements? Also, what about the player identification programs in place for UK, US and Rest of World for prospective players. I have not seen any discussions on this at all. What gives?
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Very valid point ! I guess we have to wait on the rest of the script to unfold , it's left to be seen .
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He might not want to end up as pub trivia: Name a NT coach who never actually coached a single match during his tenure.
While this matter is one on which the advisable path is for the NT coach not to make a pronouncement, it's just the sort of circumstance that Terry Fenwick is likely to have a more than mild opinion on. The thing is, whichever way yuh map it, he's in the crosshairs. The heavy lifting is not mandatory for everyone.
Water carriers have a role and silence is also a temporary weapon.
Good point :beermug:
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Probably reliving Belgian flaskbacks... He'll keep his head down - he's wanted that job for over a decade
:beermug:
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Wallace, VPs need $$$ to challenge FIFA
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Former president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace will have to find an estimated TT$300,000 to $500,000 for legal costs if he and his three vice presidents are to challenge the world governing body for football (FIFA) in their efforts of overturning FIFA's decision to removed them from office and implement a Normalisation Committee to manage the affairs of T&T football.
This is just one of the many factors being considered by Wallace and former vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, as they struggle to decide before they instruct their Attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle.
Wallace, who was elected president on November 24, 2019, of the TTFA, is considering mounting a challenge against FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland.
On Saturday Wallace, the former president of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) said a determination on what action to take was going to be made on Sunday, but when Guardian Media Sports contacted him he said they were still at the same position as the day before.
The embattled T&TFA elected officers have been trying to cope with a decision made by FIFA on March 17 to enforce articles 8.2 of its Statutes and appoint a normalization committee to govern T&T football, which officially removed them all executive positions.
Wallace said on Saturday that their decision would depend on whether the country's football would be impacted. But while he remained mum on their next move yesterday, T&TFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan said the football association, though in a cash-strapped position, would have to spend up to approximately half a million dollars to fight their case.
Ramdhan, a contracted employee, believes the statutes of the FIFA is another key factor preventing the T&TFA from mounting a legal challenge, saying: “When we challenge FIFA and win, then what. What about the repercussions. Where would it leave us and our football? Whatever is done then the broader interest of football, must be put first.”
He told Guardian Media Sports on Sunday that the FIFA statutes are heavily weighted against litigation and because of this, the country could face additional costs if it wins, as well as being suspended, as many clauses allow the FIFA to take action against Member Nations that take it to court. Ramdhan, a former FIFA World Cup referee, who publicly admitted that he has had to borrow money to pay the TTFA's staff in February, explained that the association could also face the possibility of paying huge sums to the FIFA should the challengers lose through CAS.
On Wednesday, FIFA named businessman Robert Hadad, one of three directors of the HADCO Group of Companies as chairman of the Normalization committee with attorney Judy Daniel, a specialist in Environmental Law as deputy chairman and Nigel Romano, a former president of the JMMB Bank who is now a Director and partner at Moore T&T as a member.
FIFA said the other two members will be named in the coming days.
The normalization committee has been given a mandate by FIFA: To run the TTFA's daily affairs; To establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary): To ensure their compliance with FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; and To organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
Ramdhan said the TTFA was attempting to do the same thing but was stopped prematurely and unfairly.
Meanwhile, with also a week gone since the naming of the committee, Wallace said his team will make its decision soon as it still has a lot of time to do so.
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Murphy’s law—A painful saga for TTFA
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
Following my column last week, several readers asked me if I supported the current T&T Football Association (TTFA) administration as I appeared to not support the previous one. I chuckled to myself as this episode with FIFA has nothing to do with whom I support or don’t support, I simply support what is fair.
It is interesting to note however that the current executive of the TTFA is receiving outstanding support from their member associations. Then, there are those members who no matter what, will find fault and criticise simply because they don’t want the particular executive to run the sport.
If you belong to any organisation, there will certainly be a few individuals who try their best to find fault with the executive simply because they may not get their way. But generally, as one source pointed out, “Those individuals are haters” and one has to ignore their rantings and do what is best.
One body that interestingly supports FIFA’s establishment of a normalisation committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the TTFA is the Board of the T&T Pro League. On one hand, a release from the Pro League had indicated that it had unanimously accepted the decision by FIFA but then, the rumours began to make the rounds that it was not unanimous. Whether or not unanimous, like in all democratic organisations when it was put to the vote, the majority of Pro League clubs had voted in favour of the normalisation committee.
Meanwhile, when one looks at the clubs that make up the Pro League, it is not difficult to understand why. Let’s be honest, the Pro League has struggled over the years for sustainable crowds, financial stability, adequate sponsorship, marketing and branding and proper direction.
As one of my WhatsApp chat group members sent in a message, “Pro League games still on despite COVID-19 fears as there would be no more than 25 people and they can sit 20 feet apart”. Unfortunate, but it does make you sit up and think.
The Pro League has had and continues to have credible individuals within their midst. I have no doubt that their heart is in football and they see this takeover by FIFA as a welcomed opportunity for them to lean on the world governing body to receive some funding to address the needs of the League. Funding is good, but it is obvious the League cannot see this funding coming from the TTFA; even if they get the money, the work only then begins.
Who is going to rebrand and market the league? Where is the sponsorship money coming from besides FIFA? How will the communities be enticed? Are they going to continue playing in big, empty stadiums?
I genuinely hope the league walks the talk they are preaching. The time for mudslinging, character assassinations and egotism in our football should be kicked out and we move to work as one; nice words I am sure, but I often wonder, how many of them can really hold their heads up high and be true to their words?
It is quite obvious that with the support the ousted executive of the TTFA is a beneficiary of, they feel hard done by and quite frankly, it remains difficult to not agree with them. They have already issued a pre-action protocol letter to battle the mighty FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, often referred to as the Supreme Court of sporting disputes. Quite a few people in football have told me that the TTFA doesn’t stand a chance. I certainly won’t doubt them as FIFA seems to be on solid ground and when they are not, they threaten an association by debarring them from all levels of football - you just can’t seem to win any battle with FIFA.
It is an extremely sad situation as the decision to instate a normalisation committee is not only premature but goes completely against the grain of a newly elected democratic organisation that was not given ample opportunity to try and succeed. The other unfortunate situation facing the TTFA is that they do not have and will fail to have support from the other Caribbean nations as they themselves could face a similar situation. So they will, as a friend of mine says, “Eat their biscuit and shut their mouth”.
You see, say whatever you wish about Austin Jack Warner - love him or loathe him, this could have never happened in his era. Caribbean football was strong; the region was united and the 31 votes we had were not fragmented.
But unfortunately, it does not appear so today and when I read the president of the Caribbean Football Union making comments about how difficult it will be to adequately administer football in T&T, I wondered whether he checked with the TTFA executive about their plans. More importantly, where was he over the last four years? I suppose he ought to be guarded with his words.
Some burning questions remain at the forefront of this brutal saga: if FIFA was so concerned with T&T football, why didn’t they send in their financial wizards to work with the TTFA? How come FIFA’s fact-finding team said to the TTFA not to bother to use the ‘Home of Football’ as a revenue-generating measure? Did the TTFA not say to the mission that the debt will be cleared in two to three years? What is the real reason FIFA removed the executive of the TTFA? And why is there a need for new elections following the work of the normalisation committee?
As I’ve stated previously, this takeover by the high and mighty stinks to the extreme. But I admire the democratically elected TTFA executive for battling against what is unjust and relentlessly pursuing what they believe in. Will they win their battle at CAS? Only time will tell.
But if they don’t, as Murphy’s law goes, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. A painful reality indeed.
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Hadad ready for TTFA challenge
T&T Guardian
Newly appointed chairman of the FIFA-designated Normalisation Committee (NC), Robert Hadad, was surprised by the call to head the unit but expressed a genuine willingness to help put T&T football back on the right path. This after the William Wallace-led T&T Football Association (TTFA) was disbanded by FIFA on March 17 after it was elected on November 24, 2019.
Hadad, who was placed in charge of T&T’s football with immediate effect, spoke passionately on i95.5fm Isports' Saturday programme with host Andre Errol Baptiste on the road ahead.
“Football here in Trinidad and Tobago is huge, people love the game. It is a privilege to be involved in it, whatever the circumstances I am coming into," said Hadad, who is one of three Chief Executive Officers of the HADCO Group of Companies.
"I have watched the TTFA have many challenges over the years. I know fans and people love football, it brings out a sense of patriotism in everybody. We long for an association, a national team to be proud of, makes all of us feel good and I share that aim and that is why I agreed to help and that is what I want to achieve."
He is part of five-member NC appointed on Friday to take over the governance of T&T football along with retired international banker Nigel Romano, a Director and Partner at Moore T&T, who is also a former chairman of the JMMB Bank, as well as American-based Attorney and Environmental Law Specialist Judy Daniel. There are two members still to be named by FIFA in the coming days.
Surprise call from FIFA
According to Hadad, a couple of weeks ago he got a phone call and was bluntly asked if he was interested in being a part of the NC?
"It took me back a bit and I sat down and said wow!" said Hadad honestly. "I do not know where this came from, I am guessing that they asked around. When they contacted me, I was taken aback and surprised. A couple of friends of mines called me and said, some people are asking about you, I didn’t know who it was."
However, he didn't let the uncertainty deter him from taking up the challenge with current pandemic nudging him towards committing to the post.
"This Covid-19 shook me up and I said, I really should get involved and make a difference. I saw the patriotism and the dedication of many members in our government and people stepping up to the plate and making an effort and our health care workers," Hadad internalised, saying to himself: "You have a talent, you have an ability, why don’t you get involved in this and try to make a difference, and it drove me to the point, where I said 'Yes FIFA', I am interested.”
He was interviewed by about three to four people from FIFA about his life and career, his involvement in football and if any affiliations.
"I don’t know, how they picked me. A few people in FIFA contacted me, they are from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and CONCACAF, " said Hadad, who describes himself as a 'real family man'.
Hadad worked with Brown, Camps
“I have been in the family business (Hadco, Lighthouse, Peppercorn and Nova), for the last 30 years. We started our own business, my two brothers and I. Our father died at 49 and we had to decide to take care of our family.
"My degree is in accounting (University of the West Indies). I am a real Caribbean Boy. I love my country and I love everything about T&T, said Hadad, who worked in accounting at Peat Marwick, before the family business got going in 1992. However, it was while working at Peat Marwick in 1990 he got into the administrative side of the football.
"I worked with Ralph Brown and Ollie (Oliver) Camps at the end of the 'Road to Italy 1989'. I was an auditor and my assignment was actually working on the Road to World Cup Fund and doing the audit for them afterwards, so it's kind of funny, that 30-plus years afterwards, I am here now, trying to make an impact, back in football and maybe turn things around a bit.
“I love football, I love sport, I am a real sports fanatic it is a big source of problems with my wife and myself. When we sit at night all I want to look at is sports, she wants to look at a romantic comedy, every night it is the same story she falls asleep after five minutes," said Hadad said jokingly. he revealed that his youngest son piqued his interest in the sport locally. He is an aspiring goalkeeper with Queen's Park Cricket Club football team and he made it onto the national team.
Meeting with football stakeholders
Hadad, who is involved in a sponsorship mechanism with the Camboulay Foundation, has become the most popular individual in local football as former executive members have already reached out to him.
“My phone has been on fire. I spoke to Mr Wallace (William, the former president) and I got a Whatsapp message from Mr David John-Williams, telling me congratulations. I kind of know all the players here at stake, in the association. I have already spoken with Ramesh Ramdhan (TTFA general secretary).
"My objective is for people to recognise that I am not here favouring one side or the other. I don’t know why we are here, I know it is not the fault of any one particular administrative group. I am guessing that we are here because of many mistakes along the road. I am just here to try with the team that I am involved in to make things better. The best way we could put TTFA back on the right track,” said Hadad.
He explained that “We came together already, individually Nigel Romano and myself, Judy and myself, have spoken a few times. We are in touch with each other but at the end of the day, we need to decide, when those other two people come on, what are the assets of those two people the bottom line for us is that over the next two weeks we cannot do much, we are going to be strapped down like everybody else in our homes. "FIFA did what it had to do for whatever reasons. I am just seeing an opportunity to put T&T football back on the right track."
NC now running TTFA day-to-day affairs
Moving forward under FIFA, Hadad cited that the NC has a clear remit, to run the TTFA daily affairs, analyse the current financial situation with a quick debt repayment plan and decide exactly how they are getting there, where are they getting this money to cover each expense. "We will looking at the statutes and the regulations so that we can comply with the FIFA statues because that is very important and then we have to organise an election,” explained Hadad.
Hadad revealed he is not interested in any remuneration for this job: “I made it clear when I took this job that I am not interested in any payment. Outlined in the contract is a stipend for expenses and whatever, but to be quite frank with you, I am so happy in my life and my skin. I love where I am in my life and I am just ready to give back to my country and at this time of need.”
Confidentiality is key in the process
Hadad went on to touch on the importance of confidentiality, on the TTFA office, meeting with individuals that will aid in getting T&T back on the right path.
“Everybody has to respect that (confidentiality). We must keep the matters of FIFA between us and FIFA and what is to come out to the wider population will come out. But at the end of the day, we are not here to dig up any bones that have been buried over the years and go back and figure out, who did what and who did that. We are not interested in that, we are interested in taking a position of the day and making a better organisation for all of us to be proud of,” said Hadad.
Seeking advice from Guyana's Urling
He explained that the current situation at the moment with the offices of the TTFA will remain unchanged and that he plans to reach out to the former head of the NC in Guyana Clinton Urling to get some information, so I am planning to spend a lot of time on Skype or zoom but we are not going to the office because it is illegal and we have to respect that. So we in holding pattern for a couple of weeks,” said Hadad, who added that all contracts given by TTFA will be upheld.
“I am guessing we have to maintain the contracts with everybody, we cannot walk in there and cancel a contract of anybody but we will have to read the contracts. We will have to find out exactly how long these contracts are for and have to meet with the coaches. We're probably going to have to meet with everybody, the technical director and the rest of the members of the staff and decide what is the best way for football. But I am clear in my mind that we need to divide the business into the day-to-day running, cleaning up of the accounts payable, the technical side. All of that will be decided in the next couple of months.
Hadad said, "I am going to follow the guidelines of FIFA. I am not a 'yes man' so I will challenge FIFA. Me and my team we will challenge them because we know the dynamics of our country, we know what Trinbagonions want and we are going to try to do our very best.”
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Mr Wallace, TT Football is already affected, afflicted and/or infected, regardless of your decision. Even if FIFA themselves pay off the 50 M debt, and put the football back in one of their puppets hands, what from past history and puppeteers modus operandi (inclusive of puppet masters, Veron et al) tell you where our football will be. No sir, you would not have any more negative effect on our football than what there is already. Unless your lawyers themselves run up a further significant bill that add to the debt - your only contribution to the debt. New FIFA corruption, any corruption, is your duty to expose to the best of your ability as others have recently done. Otherwise if you are aware of a crime and choose to do nothing aren't you complicit. Does our football absolutely need FIFA to develop within the next decade ? Does FIFA need us ? Martinique has strong support of France, but their players do quite well outside of FIFA, Yet still a member of CFU and CONCACAF.
True, you guys are the ones facing the music, but if y'all leave, will football continue to dance to the new old music. We weren't dancing before. Best Wishes, and God Help in your decisions.
Ent.
I don't know what Martinique has to do with this. Martinique is French depart. They can play regional football, not WC. You have to be independent to play. Any French colony players can play for France. That has been for the longest while.
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My point is, so what if we can’t play WC for the next 10 or so years. If Fifa go so low , when our case is won, as to dismiss us as a member, it would only give us a chance to work on our development and continue to play regional tournaments. Better for both growth. We won’t be going a WC soon in the world state nor our own state, for quite sometime . Martinique (as reference of non-WC participants is all) does very well with what they have and do. How much stadia they have again ? France supports them, but they don’t spoil them. They work they tail off to be even get a sniff of travel. When we are ready and able to test ourselves against CFU and the odd Concacaf exhibition, with consistently positive results, on and OFF the field. Only then, if ppl want they can go beg Fifa to give us permission to show off, and let a few of us play with Villa and ManU.
Joke: doh ask meh how Villa and ManU come in this, eh Deeks . ;D ;D
Btw, How yuh making out with the virus? I imagine y’all on extra care and lock down. Hope everyone is fine. Only one of my club members in ICU so far, but not critical.
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https://www.tas-cas.org/en/general-information/frequently-asked-questions.html
How much does the arbitration cost ?
The ordinary procedure involves paying the relatively modest costs and fees of the arbitrators, calculated on the basis of a fixed scale of charges, plus a share of the costs of the CAS.
The disciplinary cases of an international nature ruled in appeal are free, except for an initial Court Office fee of CHF 1000.-.
Can one be represented during the proceedings ?
The parties may appear alone. They may also be represented or assisted at CAS hearings by a person of their choice, not necessarily a lawyer.
What is CAS mediation ?
Mediation is a non-binding and informal procedure, based on a mediation agreement in which each party undertakes to attempt in good faith to negotiate with the other party, and with the assistance of a CAS mediator, with a view to settling a sports-related dispute.
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Another good Colin Murray article. :beermug:
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My point is, so what if we can’t play WC for the next 10 or so years. If Fifa go so low , when our case is won, as to dismiss us as a member, it would only give us a chance to work on our development and continue to play regional tournaments. Better for both growth. We won’t be going a WC soon in the world state nor our own state, for quite sometime . Martinique (as reference of non-WC participants is all) does very well with what they have and do. How much stadia they have again ? France supports them, but they don’t spoil them. They work they tail off to be even get a sniff of travel. When we are ready and able to test ourselves against CFU and the odd Concacaf exhibition, with consistently positive results, on and OFF the field. Only then, if ppl want they can go beg Fifa to give us permission to show off, and let a few of us play with Villa and ManU.
Joke: doh ask meh how Villa and ManU come in this, eh Deeks . ;D ;D
Btw, How yuh making out with the virus? I imagine y’all on extra care and lock down. Hope everyone is fine. Only one of my club members in ICU so far, but not critical.
I hunkered down inside. Working from home, until the "wise man" in the WH says he ready. But it appears it is going to be longer. But be safe Belmont Royalian!!!
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My point is, so what if we can’t play WC for the next 10 or so years. If Fifa go so low , when our case is won, as to dismiss us as a member, it would only give us a chance to work on our development and continue to play regional tournaments. Better for both growth. We won’t be going a WC soon in the world state nor our own state, for quite sometime . Martinique (as reference of non-WC participants is all) does very well with what they have and do. How much stadia they have again ? France supports them, but they don’t spoil them. They work they tail off to be even get a sniff of travel. When we are ready and able to test ourselves against CFU and the odd Concacaf exhibition, with consistently positive results, on and OFF the field. Only then, if ppl want they can go beg Fifa to give us permission to show off, and let a few of us play with Villa and ManU.
Joke: doh ask meh how Villa and ManU come in this, eh Deeks . ;D ;D
Btw, How yuh making out with the virus? I imagine y’all on extra care and lock down. Hope everyone is fine. Only one of my club members in ICU so far, but not critical.
I hunkered down inside. Working from home, until the "wise man" in the WH says he ready. But it appears it is going to be longer. But be safe Belmont Royalian!!!
:thumbsup:
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From an objective stand point , it would appear that WW was putting infrastructures in place to create a framework for a more cohesive national football program - even to having one of our moderators as a " scout for talent,
These initiatives should not go unnotice - The challenge with this framework was to how to effectively implement, when a huge dark cloud and burden of financial hardships continue to plague the operations of TTFA.
so as was mentioned by others-
A why could not FIFA work with the elected team to rectify the financial hardships
B- assist with the implementation of the infrastructure for a national overhaul to football programs?
This has to be an enigma of this whole process as it unfolded? The current Corvus situation is an opportune time to move with rectifying the financial side of things without being burden with mounting operational cost
However what happens after the financial part is completed? What will the footballl infrastructure look like and is there a mechanism to transition the former executive back in or does it require another sanctioned FIFA election?
I hope there is no former sports minister/ club owner hovering like a dog waiting for a bone. We ought to have intellegient competent passionate football minded individuals who could lead us to a promise land and glory days of TnT football
To those former elected who have our football at heart- 5 ways to stay the course
Focus on Positive and on Purpose
Focus on the controllables
O pen up to the opportunity
Commit to purpose
Understand and practice Self Leadership
Saver the good
Doh waste good money on FIFA- ensure that there is a process to implementing a sustainable framework for the development growth and succces on football in TnT and to all other blood suckers let dem haul donkeys
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Wallace launches fund to challenge FIFA.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
It's now official. Former president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace will challenge FIFA's decision to remove him and his three vice president from elected office.
Wallace, the former president of the Secondary School League (SSFL) is calling on the nation to support he and his elected vice presidents stance to challenge the world governing body for the sport of football - FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, via a ‘go fund me’ campaign which was launched yesterday.
The campaign will require members of the public to contribute generously towards fighting the cause of injustice against FIFA, through the website (TTFAFights (https://www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet)). Wallace together with vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick will be represented by sports attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle. The legal cost is estimated to be around TT$300,000 to $500,000.
After more than a week of deliberating on their next move, after the FIFA decided on March 17 to appoint a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of T&T football, in accordance with articles 8.2 of its Statutes, Wallace and company in a strongly-worded letter released on Monday, said the actions of the FIFA were unwarranted and illegal and called on the public to cover the tremendous cost involved in fighting for the rights of the people of Trinidad and Tobago to have the normalization committee removed, and reinstate the democratically elected administration. Wallace and his attorneys have until April 8 to make their submission to CAS.
According to Wallace's release: “The legitimately elected officers of the T&T Football Association, democratically elected by the electorate in the presence of both FIFA and CONCACAF officials on 24 November 2019, wish to assure the people of our beloved country of our continuing rejection of FIFA’s unwarranted and illegal intervention into football in T&T. FIFA’s injustice is made all the more transparent by the fact that it failed, consistently, to intervene against the David John-Williams administration that operated and generated massive debt for four years with FIFA’s knowledge and supervision, through their annual audit.”
It added “It is ironic that after we assumed office and generated a report which pointed out the absence of any financial internal structures, that the report was sent back verbatim as one of the two reasons given for FIFA’s action. Moreover, based on recent information we are aware that FIFA’s intervention was premeditated and the implementation of this action commenced since we won the elections. The elected officers of TTFA advises the public that we will oppose FIFA’s injustice at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.”
“We need to be heard and that right is enshrined in the FIFA statutes that govern all Member Associations. Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle. The expense of this legal challenge is a tremendous obstacle but we are determined to fight for what is right, to defend democracy and the sovereign right of our people to determine our own affairs. To that end, we have created a “go fund me” campaign and are calling on all patriots to contribute to our national cause as generously as they can. Please visit (TTFAFights (https://www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet)).”
However, Ramesh Ramdhan, the current general secretary of the TTFA, publicly outlined a debt-relief plan which Guardian newspapers published on March 21 which he said was given to a FIFA/CONCACAF auditing team which came on a fact-finding mission in February. The payment of the mounting TTFA $50 million-dollar debt was to be done via a multi-million-dollar partnership deal between the TTFA, UK Architecture firm Lavendar and the Arima Borough Corporation which were to embark on a state-of-the-art sporting, a commercial and residential facility in Arima.
Still, the FIFA was not convinced and sought to appoint businessman Robert Hadad to head its normalization committee, with his deputy being Environmental Attorney Judy Daniels, another businessman Nigel Romano, as well as two other members, to be appointed soon FIFA disclosed.
RELATED NEWS
TTFA moves forward with Court of Arbitration for Sport case vs. FIFA.
Supporters of United TTFA
If you are a fan of the beautiful game and are tired of FIFA abusing its power as the governing body of world football/soccer then please donate today!
Here is our story, on November 24, 2019, we (the United TTFA) won the Presidential election to become the governing body of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association 26-20. The incumbent, David John-Williams in four years increased the debt to TT$50 million and left the association in financial ruin. During his time, FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited John-Williams three times in four years, with his last visit in early November before the elections when the Home of Football (which was illegally opened because it didn't meet codes and standards) opened.
Now, let’s fast forward to March 4, 2020. On this day which marked the first 100 days in office, our President William Wallace who ran his election on transparency, revealed to the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association stakeholders and supporters a detailed plan of how much debt we were in and how we were going to get out of it in the next two years. An extremely feasible plan based upon an audit that took place within the first month of office. After this press conference, FIFA officials traveled to Trinidad & Tobago and were happy that President Wallace and his team had provided a financial synopsis of where the TTFA stood. They said that they were happy because this was 50% of the work.
Less than two weeks later, March 17, 2020, FIFA refutes the financial synopsis and installs a normalization committee, meaning that they will develop a board of local Trinbagonians to take control of the TTFA. Originally, FIFA had appointed Tyril Patrick, an individual who was John-Williams' accountant during the four years of his presidency. Ten days later, on March 27, 2020, FIFA appointed Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel, and Nigel Romano as normalization committee members. On a local radio station, Hadad mentioned that he had been in talks with CONCACAF and FIFA for several weeks prior to his appointment, proof that all along FIFA had been plotting this normalization committee without consulting with the administration in office, the United TTFA.
FIFA and Infantino have proven in this case that nothing has changed since the United States government took down Sepp Blatter and other officials in 2016. They oversaw the democratic election win of the United TTFA, but because John-Williams did not win, they decided to enforce draconian principles that are both immoral and illegal. Therefore, the United TTFA will take its case to the highest court of appeal.
We are raising funds on behalf of the United TTFA as the team is set to appeal FIFA's decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). A victory will be historic and could change the way that FIFA treats its 210 association members forever. We are David in the fight against Goliath but with your help we can appeal to the CAS to rescind FIFA's decision to re-instate the United TTFA to the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association executive board and amend its statutes for “normalization”.
Deadline:
Register with CAS - April 7th
Here is the team who will battle FIFA in the Court of Arbitration for Sport:
President - William Wallace
1st Vice President - Clint Taylor
2nd Vice President - Susan Joseph-Warrick
3rd Vice President - Sam Phillip
A small donation will help us reach our fundraising goal. And if you can't make a donation, then it would be great if you could share the fundraiser to help spread the word.
Thank you for your support of the United TTFA!
TTFA moves forward with Court of Arbitration for Sport case vs. FIFA (https://www.change.org/p/visa-reinstate-united-ttfa-as-executive-board-of-trinidad-tobago-football-association/u/26189831?cs_tk=AoUYrEPJcVWHAN1_hl4AAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvF0rmDuwiZdS3VmTOBFMOAA%3D&utm_campaign=edbbc24398b44f5c8e270e3f81de08cf&utm_content=initial_v0_4_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs) - Change.org
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Andre Baptiste take that drivel and shove it.
Ain't nobody swallowing that tripe
I haven't been listening to much talk radio since 2015. After Kamla and dem I needed a break. So I haven't been following "The Fearless One" much over the past five years or so. I keep hearing that he eh so Fearless any more but I eh see or hear for mih self until this morning. I happen to have the radio on I95.5 fm and caught his daily 7:25 am diatribe. And all I could say was "well yes papa!!" De man imploring fans and the wider public to support FIFA and the Normalisation committee!! I nearly fall out mih chair!!
So one more person to add to mih list of Firetrucks....
Firetruck De Used-to-be-Fearless One,
Firetruck FIFA,
firetruck dat Haddad guy,
Firetruck the Normalisation Commitee!!!
:cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :bs: :bs: :bs: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :banginghead: :banginghead: :cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :flamethrower: :flamethrower:
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Hadad ready for TTFA challenge
T&T Guardian
Who de fack is this Hadad guy? Just so, just so he get ah phone call? Nobody in the wider footballing public ever hear he name call but just so, just so he get a phone call??
Firetruck he yes!! :cursing: :cursing: :bs: :bs: :banginghead: :banginghead:
Mih sistren Weary must be rolling over in she grave.....smh.....
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Well, there are two other patriots waiting in the wings ... de blaze eh start yet.
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Hadad ready for TTFA challenge
T&T Guardian
Who de fack is this Hadad guy? Just so, just so he get ah phone call? Nobody in the wider footballing public ever hear he name call but just so, just so he get a phone call??
Firetruck he yes!! :cursing: :cursing: :bs: :bs: :banginghead: :banginghead:
Mih sistren Weary must be rolling over in she grave.....smh.....
Hadad Group of companies sponsors Phase 2.
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If Wallace and them can't come up with $500,000 thousand how will they run T&T football.
Not trying to be negative because ah like Wallace and company, but with this Chinese virus, no sponsors will come onboard because companies losing/lost a lot of money.
If they win de case, FIFA will ban them or refuse them the yearly grant.
They broke and will have plenty problems down de road.
Why they don't ask FIFA to call a truce and ask if they can be on the TTFA board with Hadad and company.
Everybody win here.
They have to remember is FIFA they fighting, a big organization and a crooked one who will find a win to win by the hook or the crook.
50M is a lot of money.
Take de money they getting from Lavender for the Arima Multi-purpose Sports Facility and fix de Home of Football instead, give LAVCON de wok and everybody win.
(v) As part of the overall development, LAVCON has agreed to include a fee to TTFA of TT$50 million. The fee would be paid in four equal amounts of TT$12,500M over the development period as follows: (https://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=63534.msg992874#msg992874)
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You ent see- FIFA must have purchased data about everyone from previous government. :rotfl: :rotfl: to just call up a man just so??? Like they think we chuppid to fall for dat?
On the other hand what kinda desperate move is dat to create a fund to support the fight against FIFA during this time when people losing jobs amidst this Corvid 19?
If FIFA want to pay debt - probably due to in part from their lack of fiscal intervention when money running wild and people profiting and funds being diverted into pockets and deals being brokered- now when a local management putting some football infrastructure in place now they intervening with wanting to remove the governance?
Another nail at keeping the regions football at a level below others? During this time all kinda bs moves happening . To WW team, save yuh cash work at grassroots levels in communities throughout the country create a passion for football by and for the people let the donkeys bray- Leyden FIFA pay off the debt - while business slow now then when they pay dat off - then mount a case challenge for governance
Eh make sense fthrowing money yuh prove what is obvious to the public- mobilize the football organizations to follow the framework for development- build internal support - right now by going after FIFA the optics iappeats to be focusing on loss of leadership divert that energy and demonstrate that you are about the betterment of TnT football.
Bring back regional rivalries drum up communities to follow and support teams - let some of them power hungry pro league e ecutives who want political office haul arse you ent see how they braying on the outside
In my opinion at this time the game the players have the biggest stake in the future of our game not TTFA not anyone of the detractors- If money in a fu d could be generated to foster the development and support player development that will speak volumes - this TTFA versus FIFA ought not to be the main focus
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Take a read forumites > The Panama papers / sports illustrated article Fifa scandal the article is a few years ago / see if any name looks familiar ? Hmm . Draw your own conclusions
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Take a read forumites > The Panama papers / sports illustrated article Fifa scandal the article is a few years ago / see if any name looks familiar ? Hmm . Draw your own conclusions
Post link bro...
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Quite a few articles you'll find , simple search will do ...... Just type on ur device > Panama papers Fifa scandal / Uefa office raided .
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CFA boss supports FIFA's Normalisation Committee.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Shymdeo Gosine, president of the Central Football Association (CFA), has come out in support of the FIFA’s Normalisation Committee running the affairs of T&T football.
The Central businessman, who has made an immediate impact with his involvement into the sport a few years ago at the CFA level, told Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday he believes the ousted executives of former president William Wallace and vice presidents Susan Joseph-Warrick, Sam Phillip and Clynt Taylor, who is the general secretary at the CFA, will not receive any support from the people of T&T to accumulate the money needed to attempt to convince the world governing body for football, FIFA, to rescind its decision to implement a normalisation committee to govern local football.
“Just watch and you will see for yourself, they will not get any support,” Gosine said.
The disbanded executives of the TTFA, through former president Wallace on Monday, issued a release to the media confirming their decision to fight against what they consider to be injustice and unfairness by the FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne Switzerland.
Wallace and his vice president estimated that they will need between $300,000 to $500,000 for their Attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle to fight the case and is calling on members of the public to give generously via its website (TTFAFights (https://www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet)).
FIFA, on March 17, agreed to appoint a normalisation committee in charge of local football, believing the then Wallace-led TTFA which had been in office less than three months, was facing insolvency due to a claim by the former executive of a debt of approximately $50 million which it inherited from previous administrations. But despite attempts to prevent the FIFA from going through with its plan, the sport’s governing body ignored a plight from the TTFA and appointed the members of the normalisation committee, which comprises of businessman and chairman Robert Hadad who is a director of the HADCO Group of Companies, his deputy Judy Daniels who is a specialist in Environment Law and banker Nigel Romano, an executive and partner of Moore T&T.
In a release, FIFA also explained that two other members of the committee will be chosen over the coming days, after consultation with the CONCACAF.
Yesterday, Gosine said he believes the Wallace-led administration may have blundered by its decision to close the now controversial Home of Football which FIFA itself had approved.
“That was probably one of the many mistakes that were made by the members of that administration, none of whom attended the grand opening of the facility in Balmain, Couva, and featured Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, CONCACAF president Victor Mantagliani and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, among many others. The Home of Football was built to generate income but the Wallace administration closed it and had no revenue streams but the FIFA,” Gosine said.
According to the central football boss, the TTFA later made several appointments with no money to pay them while promises of lucrative contracts to help the sport have never materialised. Gosine said he doesn’t know if the Wallace-led administration at the time had the capabilities to run the affairs of local football.
He said, "I, the President of the Central Football Association, want to welcome the decision made by FIFA to put a normalizing committee in place to regularize our football. The proclamation made by the team that was given the mandate had too many pies in the sky."
Gosine who contested the November 24, 2019, TTFA election as a vice president on the slate of Richard Ferguson, believes FIFA is the best choice to revive local football, saying after the two years, Wallace and is members can decide to re-contest the elections for a second time, and might just be in a better position to run the sport. Quizzed as to whether he will consider contesting elections when it is called, Gosine said he could not answer that at present but he does feel that he has a lot to offer T&T football still.
Meanwhile, the T&T Pro League is also in support of FIFA's decision, while the T&T Super League, the North Zone, T&T Football Referees Association (T&TFRA) and the T&T American Youth Soccer Organisation have thrown their support behind the former President.
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why do they need between 300 & 500 K ? The lawyers really charging that minimum ? besides that being a wide gap ! This isn't no big court case where knowledge of international law is required, just international common sense. Even Wallace and Ramdhan can represent. Case won't be called until travel restrictions are relaxed anyway. Flight & Hotel meals 1 week, max $3000 cad/person. Retention/loss of work/stipend : $2000 cad/person = , Court clothes : 1000 cad/person. ~60 K TT total.
" modest fees" can't be 240 K TT- 50 k cad ? so is that lawyer fee.
Shouldn't drink champagne when yuh only have beer money. It's quite possible I don't know the ins and outs, willing to learn.
https://www.tas-cas.org/en/general-information/frequently-asked-questions.html
How much does the arbitration cost ?
The ordinary procedure involves paying the relatively modest costs and fees of the arbitrators, calculated on the basis of a fixed scale of charges, plus a share of the costs of the CAS.
The disciplinary cases of an international nature ruled in appeal are free, except for an initial Court Office fee of CHF 1000.-.
Can one be represented during the proceedings ?
The parties may appear alone. They may also be represented or assisted at CAS hearings by a person of their choice, not necessarily a lawyer.
What is CAS mediation ?
Mediation is a non-binding and informal procedure, based on a mediation agreement in which each party undertakes to attempt in good faith to negotiate with the other party, and with the assistance of a CAS mediator, with a view to settling a sports-related dispute.
What about Ambassadors Shaka and Dwight, they already decline ?
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TTFA battle with FIFA could hurt region
Barbados Advocate
The Football Community in the region needs the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to put their house in order as their actions could affect all the other member associations.
This was the sentiments of veteran Sports Administrator Adrian Donovan recently.
Donovan said he has had the pleasure and sometimes the challenges with working with the likes of Jack Warner and some of the best administrators and footballers seen this part of the world.
At present the TTFA is engaged in a battle with the world governing body FIFA and, according to Donovan, it seems all the odds are stacked against the TTFA.
“Trinidad football over the years has been looked up to by all of us in the Caribbean because they presented outstanding players who stood tall above any others.
“It is a sad reflection to see the tribulations that occurred under the Jack Warner regime come back to haunt us but in a different form and fashion.”
The TTFA has engaged the services of two lawyers with the intention of taking their grievance to the court of arbitration. They have all right to as it has been proven that no international sporting federation can supersede the law of the land.
However, any exercise to challenge FIFA can be an extremely expensive undertaking. At present a number of the TTFA executive members have started a fundraising campaign hoping to raise at least a half million TT dollars to champion their cause.
Donovan cannot believe that taking into consideration what is happening with this deadly COVID-19 virus pandemic where people are suffering, that fundraising activities like this will get off the ground.
“Citizens all through the region, including Trinidad and Tobago, have lost their jobs and businesses have closed its doors. It is seemingly unheard of that with so many trials and tribulations at work in all of our countries, that people could actually come up with an idea like this one.”
T&T for years have gained so much respect for not only representing the Caribbean at a World Cup, but also for the quality of their players who can be seen playing up until recently in different leagues all over the world.
Donovan believes that the damage has already been done and the credibility of football in Trinidad should be of utmost importance for those in charge.
“With a debt of over TT$ 50 million and rising the normalization committee set up by FIFA is the best way to go as the game is bigger than any of us.”
Donovan stated that they cannot afford to let the sport come to a standstill.
The normalization committee which FIFA continues to put in place in associations that have problems have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to put their respective troubled associations on the right path.
Donovan went on to say that it cannot be business as usual and the first thing that the committee will have to do is conduct a forensic audit as the debt will continue to rise beyond imagination.
“FIFA will dictate how certain things will go and contracts and agreements may suffer terminations but at the end of it all the image of the TTFA must be restored.”
Donovan noted that a fair and democratic AGM has to be held and everyone will be given a chance to put their hat in the ring for the newly elected board.
“The Caribbean football fraternity which I am sure the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) are too will support any new TTFA that is put in place.”(CG)
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In its dealing with the T&TFA… FIFA is worse than COVID–19.
By Neville Ferguson (sunshinetodaytt).
Is the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association still being punished because of the tsunami Jack Warner caused to descend on FIFA, toppling its big brass and virtually bringing the once-powerful organization to its knees?
This is a question many are asking ever since the FIFA declared its intention to appoint a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of the TTFA for a period not to exceed the maximum of two years.
For connoisseurs in the know, this decision is fraught with bias and prejudice; and the level of injustice on display raises questions as to whether this world body could ever be trusted to do the right thing even when the whole world is watching!
Over the past decade, the integrity of the leadership of this Zurich-based world organization was shattered as exposé after exposé brought FIFA to its knees. After the dust was cleared and the allegations were allowed to run their course, the truth that evolved was the connivance and wickedness of the leaders of FIFA who believed that each possessed a monopoly to determine how world football is to be
run.
Even potential leaders, heirs apparent and designated survivors who were earmarked for the Presidential throne saw their dreams transformed into nightmares for the wrong they sought to inflict on one who sought nothing but to advance the cause of the beautiful game we call football.
Now many are watching FIFA’s new machinations as yet another attempt to punish Trinidad and Tobago because it failed to successfully bring Jack Warner to his knees in utter humiliation.
The reason for this new attack, according to FIFA, is an attempt to restore governance and financial stability to an Association that competed in five FIFA World Cups in different divisions. The crowning glory was our appearance at the FIFA Men’s World Cup, Germany 2006.
The FIFA argued that this Association with a history of 112 years, one that hosted two FIFA World Cups in the junior categories, was characterized as having “extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt”, which left the local body “facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.
The punishment, according to FIFA’s justice, was the removal of the duly elected management team of three months; the appointment of a Normalisation Committee; and the appointment of a caretaker to overseer the day-to-day operations of the TTFA until the Normalisation Committee is selected and installed.
Justice and Fair Play are alien to FIFA
It is here that the FIFA showed its dirty feet and demonstrated to the global village that justice and fair play are alien to that organisation; and that regardless who sits at the helm, the FIFA is not afraid to run afoul and commit the most heinous offences in its aim to get what the FIFA wants.
The first thing that must be understood is that the current President of the T&TFA, William Wallace, who is being run out of office, won the TTFA elections on 24 November 2019 beating the then incumbent David John-Williams by a 26 – 20 victory margin.
The truth is that the FIFA never supported William Wallace and the shock of his victory hit them hard because in their wildest imagination the FIFA never believed that their boy John-Williams could have been defeated.
FIFA pulled every trick out of the book to help David John-Williams
They heavily funded a home for football and ensured that the opening took place before the TTFA elections no doubt to tilt the votes in his favor.
But that was not enough. Attending the opening was FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani and FIFA Foundation CEO Youri Djorkaeff; the team from the FIFA was sending a clear message that John-Williams was their boy.
The rhetoric on the podium was clear as Infantino publicly thanked John-Williams whom he affably called David for “dreaming it all, for speaking it all, for believing in it, for fighting for it. And for making it happen.”
This was open politics, not politics of stealth as he pronounced, “I came to Trinidad and Tobago, and I was not believing to find somebody like [David] in Trinidad and Tobago. I have to say the truth. Because Trinidad and Tobago Football Association were more or less in the same state as FIFA at that time” a state he referred to as shambles.
And he continued “We found a Federation which was under the earth, TTFA; Trinidad and Tobago Football, very sadly, was in the headlines for other reasons than football, even though linked to football but today, we are here, and proud to be here, because today, Trinidad and Tobago is the capital of the world of
football.”
Never in Infantino’s wildest dreams or carefree imaginations did he think that after reigning such platitudes on David John-Williams, that the minions who were imbued with the power to vote in the next TTFA President would have gone against his wishes and vote in favor of the new kid on the block much to the chagrin of the FIFA; William Wallace was not the pawn that they could control.
Mischief was set afoot
And so mischief was set afoot; the door needed to be reopened for Infantino’s boy David John-Williams once again to ascend the throne together with his side-kick Selby Browne. So the only legitimate way was to railroad Wallace’s presidency, set up a Normalisation Committee and ban Wallace and every member of his team from ever contesting another TTFA election. What is mind boggling is that three months ago, the TTFA that was described as similar to FIFA, a TTFA that made this country the capital of the world of football, now became so saddled with debt that the FIFA has to invoke Article 8 Paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statutes to protect the organisation and development of football in this country and put corrective measures in place.
The financial situation to which the FIFA spoke was indebtedness close to 50 million dollars. But the question that Infantino and his boys must now answer is how come a Normalisation Committee was not set up when John-Williams was the President because there is no way that Wallace could have accrued such a debt in a paltry three months, the period of time he has held office as President. How come?
The T&TFA should not look to the Caribbean Football Union for any help since the vast majority of its members out of sheer envy will be silently happy over the position of T&TFA faces today. In addition, the President of CFU, Barbadian Randy Harris, is on the payroll of FIFA and CONCACAF and who pays the football Piper call the tune – no CFU support for the T&TFA. That, however, should not discourage the T&TFA in their fight for justice and respect.
Isn’t the bias against Wallace too overtly brazen?
Isn’t the FIFA’s perception that it is a law unto itself clearly the cloud that has resulted in the myopicism that now causes it to steer down an authoritarian road to bring the institute into disrepute once again?
Somebody with their lurid imagination prefaced the name of Jack Warner as the bedrock for the success of the Wallace team and Infantino probably saw the opportunity to drink tea for Blatter’s fever, but Wallace has decided and openly declared that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will have the last say.
FIFA has underestimated the resolve of Wallace and underestimated the pride of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Infantino has appropriated a grandiose perception of himself that does not exist. The people of this country prefer to see the beautiful game die in this country than to allow Massa Day to ever
return.
Justice is all that Trinidad and Tobago Football Association demands and as long as John-Williams or his minion’s railroad the wishes of the football fraternity, justice will never prevail and FIFA will once again begin its slow march towards ignominy.
In fighting Covid-19, the T&TFA will surely be fighting FIFA.
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In its dealing with the T&TFA… FIFA is worse than COVID–19.
By Neville Ferguson (sunshinetodaytt).
Is the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association still being punished because of the tsunami Jack Warner caused to descend on FIFA, toppling its big brass and virtually bringing the once-powerful organization to its knees?
This is a question many are asking ever since the FIFA declared its intention to appoint a Normalisation Committee to run the affairs of the TTFA for a period not to exceed the maximum of two years.
For connoisseurs in the know, this decision is fraught with bias and prejudice; and the level of injustice on display raises questions as to whether this world body could ever be trusted to do the right thing even when the whole world is watching!
Over the past decade, the integrity of the leadership of this Zurich-based world organization was shattered as exposé after exposé brought FIFA to its knees. After the dust was cleared and the allegations were allowed to run their course, the truth that evolved was the connivance and wickedness of the leaders of FIFA who believed that each possessed a monopoly to determine how world football is to be
run.
Even potential leaders, heirs apparent and designated survivors who were earmarked for the Presidential throne saw their dreams transformed into nightmares for the wrong they sought to inflict on one who sought nothing but to advance the cause of the beautiful game we call football.
Now many are watching FIFA’s new machinations as yet another attempt to punish Trinidad and Tobago because it failed to successfully bring Jack Warner to his knees in utter humiliation.
The reason for this new attack, according to FIFA, is an attempt to restore governance and financial stability to an Association that competed in five FIFA World Cups in different divisions. The crowning glory was our appearance at the FIFA Men’s World Cup, Germany 2006.
The FIFA argued that this Association with a history of 112 years, one that hosted two FIFA World Cups in the junior categories, was characterized as having “extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt”, which left the local body “facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.
The punishment, according to FIFA’s justice, was the removal of the duly elected management team of three months; the appointment of a Normalisation Committee; and the appointment of a caretaker to overseer the day-to-day operations of the TTFA until the Normalisation Committee is selected and installed.
Justice and Fair Play are alien to FIFA
It is here that the FIFA showed its dirty feet and demonstrated to the global village that justice and fair play are alien to that organisation; and that regardless who sits at the helm, the FIFA is not afraid to run afoul and commit the most heinous offences in its aim to get what the FIFA wants.
The first thing that must be understood is that the current President of the T&TFA, William Wallace, who is being run out of office, won the TTFA elections on 24 November 2019 beating the then incumbent David John-Williams by a 26 – 20 victory margin.
The truth is that the FIFA never supported William Wallace and the shock of his victory hit them hard because in their wildest imagination the FIFA never believed that their boy John-Williams could have been defeated.
FIFA pulled every trick out of the book to help David John-Williams
They heavily funded a home for football and ensured that the opening took place before the TTFA elections no doubt to tilt the votes in his favor.
But that was not enough. Attending the opening was FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani and FIFA Foundation CEO Youri Djorkaeff; the team from the FIFA was sending a clear message that John-Williams was their boy.
The rhetoric on the podium was clear as Infantino publicly thanked John-Williams whom he affably called David for “dreaming it all, for speaking it all, for believing in it, for fighting for it. And for making it happen.”
This was open politics, not politics of stealth as he pronounced, “I came to Trinidad and Tobago, and I was not believing to find somebody like [David] in Trinidad and Tobago. I have to say the truth. Because Trinidad and Tobago Football Association were more or less in the same state as FIFA at that time” a state he referred to as shambles.
And he continued “We found a Federation which was under the earth, TTFA; Trinidad and Tobago Football, very sadly, was in the headlines for other reasons than football, even though linked to football but today, we are here, and proud to be here, because today, Trinidad and Tobago is the capital of the world of
football.”
Never in Infantino’s wildest dreams or carefree imaginations did he think that after reigning such platitudes on David John-Williams, that the minions who were imbued with the power to vote in the next TTFA President would have gone against his wishes and vote in favor of the new kid on the block much to the chagrin of the FIFA; William Wallace was not the pawn that they could control.
Mischief was set afoot
And so mischief was set afoot; the door needed to be reopened for Infantino’s boy David John-Williams once again to ascend the throne together with his side-kick Selby Browne. So the only legitimate way was to railroad Wallace’s presidency, set up a Normalisation Committee and ban Wallace and every member of his team from ever contesting another TTFA election. What is mind boggling is that three months ago, the TTFA that was described as similar to FIFA, a TTFA that made this country the capital of the world of football, now became so saddled with debt that the FIFA has to invoke Article 8 Paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statutes to protect the organisation and development of football in this country and put corrective measures in place.
The financial situation to which the FIFA spoke was indebtedness close to 50 million dollars. But the question that Infantino and his boys must now answer is how come a Normalisation Committee was not set up when John-Williams was the President because there is no way that Wallace could have accrued such a debt in a paltry three months, the period of time he has held office as President. How come?
The T&TFA should not look to the Caribbean Football Union for any help since the vast majority of its members out of sheer envy will be silently happy over the position of T&TFA faces today. In addition, the President of CFU, Barbadian Randy Harris, is on the payroll of FIFA and CONCACAF and who pays the football Piper call the tune – no CFU support for the T&TFA. That, however, should not discourage the T&TFA in their fight for justice and respect.
Isn’t the bias against Wallace too overtly brazen?
Isn’t the FIFA’s perception that it is a law unto itself clearly the cloud that has resulted in the myopicism that now causes it to steer down an authoritarian road to bring the institute into disrepute once again?
Somebody with their lurid imagination prefaced the name of Jack Warner as the bedrock for the success of the Wallace team and Infantino probably saw the opportunity to drink tea for Blatter’s fever, but Wallace has decided and openly declared that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will have the last say.
FIFA has underestimated the resolve of Wallace and underestimated the pride of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Infantino has appropriated a grandiose perception of himself that does not exist. The people of this country prefer to see the beautiful game die in this country than to allow Massa Day to ever
return.
Justice is all that Trinidad and Tobago Football Association demands and as long as John-Williams or his minion’s railroad the wishes of the football fraternity, justice will never prevail and FIFA will once again begin its slow march towards ignominy.
In fighting Covid-19, the T&TFA will surely be fighting FIFA.
very objective article, but the reality is that fifa did not underestimate the pride of the people of trinidad and tobago because the majority of them are in favor of the fifa normalization scheme. the people of Trinidad and Tobago does not deserve this kind of credit because the majority of them are cowards and seldom make sacrifices for the greater good.
The one i do think that they underestimated was lok loy. that half chinese just might be the death of this present FIFA administration if they have anything to hide. I hate it when trinis ride on an age old temperament that does not exist anymore.
Once upon a time trinbagonians was a force to recon with, we were fearless and capable, but today there’s a bunch of self serving jelly belly easy going party animals cry cry suck finger toddlers who don’t possess a lick of pride.
so far all I’ve seen of our people is congrats for the fifa take over, and this article and the weired 888 articles are the only set of journalistic pieces that are in support of the stand off. I certainly support the embattled ttfa, we’ve waited three years to rid ourselves of that fat ugly sell out, and now that we have, I’m not in favor of fifa putting us back in that position.
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This articles says that fifa has banned wallace and every member of his team from ever contesting another election, tell me it’s not so?
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This articles says that fifa has banned wallace and every member of his team from ever contesting another election, tell me it’s not so?
That raised an eyebrow. I'm treating it as being a defective statement. Prepare the camel; that would be the straw.
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T&T coaches not surprised by FIFA's action
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
It is believed FIFA's intervention into local football through a Normalisation Committee, may or may not be a blessing in disguise.
The normalisation committee was implemented on March 17 by the world governing body for football, FIFA, after it felt the financial position of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) hinged on it being insolvent. Since then three out of five members of the committee were chosen, despite desperate calls to rescind the committee as the former TTFA executive decides to challenge FIFA through Court of Administration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland through attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle.
In a response to the implementation of the normalisation committee, three football coaches including Brian Williams, an former Strike Squad defender and national Under-20 coach, Shawn Cooper, a former national Under-17 coach who also led Presentation College (San Fernando) to its first Coca Cola National InterCol title last year, and Lyndon Andrews, a coach at Arima North Secondary, believe the committee could be a blessing, once it can turn T&T's football fortunes around.
Williams told Guardian Media Sports it is no secret that the sport has been struggling in all areas for some time now and something has to be done to revive it.
"The FIFA is the world governing body for the sport and if it feels that the sport here is not being run as it should be and they want to assist, then so be it," Williams explained.
He said that members of the public have been left in the dark concerning what has been taking place in the sport, saying one day you hear about the Home of Football being an income-generator, and the next thing, it cannot be used for the purpose that it was constructed for.
"I just want to see football being run the right way. I want to see coaches being allowed to coach and be paid for it. I want to see the huge TTFA debt liquidated completely, players allowed to play and the national teams competitive once more. Right now there is no motivation. There's no prize money for competition and players cannot make a living from plying their trade, etc."
Williams also sympathised with the William Wallace-led TTFA, noting that with only three months in office, it was very little that could have done.
Meanwhile, Andrews who has been one of this country’s creative midfielders from the youth to senior levels, made it clear a normalisation committee in T&T football was needed a long time now, even in the Jack Warner days.
"Unfortunately, the committee came during the Wallace-led administration, but it was needed in David John-Williams, Raymond Tim Kee and in the times of Jack Warner because for all those times our football had been in the red. It is necessary now because our football has been going backwards. We need our football to move forward again and I believe the normalisation committee will put us on that path,” Andrews said.
“When John-Williams came in, everyone thought he would have rescued us by clearing the debt but instead our football sunk further into debt. Now while Wallace team may have ideas, we are not sure. What is important for us now is to ensure that our football gets back on track.”
In February officials of the FIFA and CONCACAF visited the TTFA on a fact-finding mission which including examing the TTFA books to determine what plans to implement going forward to eradicate the claimed $50 million debt. And soon after it (FIFA) confirmed this in a letter, by stating further that the TTFA appeared to be facing insolvency.
Meanwhile, Cooper, who was overlooked for a coaching position under the former president Wallace said the implementation of the committee was inevitable.
"It is sad we cannot run our affairs but it was always incoming. We have had a problem with our debt, not only now but under Jack Warner, Raymond Tim Kee, David John-Williams and now William Wallace. Some people believe the committee should have come before. However, once it can ensure that crowds would come out at the Pro League matches or if the debt will be paid or if clubs will be self-sustainable at the end of the two years then it will be worth the while," Cooper said.
The FIFA normalisation committee is led by businessman Robert Hadad as chairman with attorney Judy Daniel and deputy chairman and retired banker Nigel Ramano as member.
Meanwhile, Wallace, the former president of the Secondary School League (SSFL) is calling on the nation to support he and his elected vice presidents to challenge the world governing body for the sport of football - FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, via a ‘go fund me’ campaign which was launched on Monday.
The campaign will require members of the public to contribute generously towards fighting the cause of injustice against FIFA, through the website (TTFAFights (https://www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet)). Wallace together with vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick will be represented by sports attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle. The legal cost is estimated to be around TT$300,000 to $500,000. The deadline for the challenge to be registered is April 7.
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I wanted to abbreviate the post but ended up cutting off the link. Will fix later.
pullstones wrote:
very objective article, but the reality is that fifa did not underestimate the pride of the people of trinidad and tobago because the majority of them are in favor of the fifa normalization scheme. the people of Trinidad and Tobago does not deserve this kind of credit because the majority of them are cowards and seldom make sacrifices for the greater good.
The one i do think that they underestimated was lok loy. that half chinese just might be the death of this present FIFA administration if they have anything to hide. I hate it when trinis ride on an age old temperament that does not exist anymore.
Once upon a time trinbagonians was a force to recon with, we were fearless and capable, but today there’s a bunch of self serving jelly belly easy going party animals cry cry suck finger toddlers who don’t possess a lick of pride.
so far all I’ve seen of our people is congrats for the fifa take over, and this article and the weired 888 articles are the only set of journalistic pieces that are in support of the stand off. I certainly support the embattled ttfa, we’ve waited three years to rid ourselves of that fat ugly sell out, and now that we have, I’m not in favor of fifa putting us back in that position.
In T&T, there are several citizens with private convictions but no public courage, in a land of self-censorship, especially when anonymity is not the currency. Then, there are others who are eager to present malleable opinions - some boisterously, others in even tones. Unfortunately, much of that opinion is devoid of factual or contextual support.
There are others whose opinions are barometers of the personal convenience, realities and status quo they wish to create - rather than of the totality of the truth found in the present. And, there are others whose trafficable currency is not anonymity but cash. Those in that category are blinded by anything else.
But, there is another currency that we have more of than is commonly understood: ignorance. Ignorance, combined with the way in which the society is stratified, is a perpetual orgasm for some of the participants - but not others - in a metaphorical orgy of coitus sans the interruptus. To be sure, the non-satisficing participants are not friends with the "happy enders" and they are definitely not benefiting, sowing or reaping.
In the history of the world, a lack of mutuality is never a permanently winning proposition. What makes the above-referenced ingredients transform from a virginal beverage to a cocktail is time. Time is not on our side.
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The word is "normalise". Not paradise.
It's curious that there is a view that a NC will vest us with manna from heaven. That's a twisted narrative for several reasons. Of course, the genius of normalisation would explain why Pakistan is on its third NC. ::)
Normalisation won't ever trump root and branch transformation, but we can be deluded into believing that the objective here is root and branch transformation. It isn't.
Manna with Kool Aid? Not hungry.
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in a metaphorical orgy of coitus sans the interruptus. To be sure, the non-satisficing participants are not friends with the "happy enders"
Dude, you watching too much Big Bang Theory.
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in a metaphorical orgy of coitus sans the interruptus. To be sure, the non-satisficing participants are not friends with the "happy enders"
Dude, you watching too much Big Bang Theory.
Touché!
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The word is "normalise". Not paradise.
It's curious that there is a view that a NC will vest us with manna from heaven. That's a twisted narrative for several reasons. Of course, the genius of normalisation would explain why Pakistan is on its third NC. ::)
Normalisation won't ever trump root and branch transformation, but we can be deluded into believing that the objective here is root and branch transformation. It isn't.
Manna with Kool Aid? Not hungry.
:thumbsup:
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The word is "normalise". Not paradise.
It's curious that there is a view that a NC will vest us with manna from heaven. That's a twisted narrative for several reasons. Of course, the genius of normalisation would explain why Pakistan is on its third NC. ::)
Normalisation won't ever trump root and branch transformation, but we can be deluded into believing that the objective here is root and branch transformation. It isn't.
Manna with Kool Aid? Not hungry.
never mind those idiots who’s all smiles that alas fifa has heard our cry from on high and has left their lofty towers to investigate the two drunks fighting at the mote, while the palace guards share jokes.
I’ve got to reiterate how very disappointed i am with the so called football fraternity in trinidad and tobago, no wonder DJW got 20 out of 46 votes. listening to familiar voices ala sancho, Brian williams and many more stand outs in TT football circles was enough shock to light a small village in rural toco, to know that they could not differentiate between AJW, raymond timkee, DJW and the United TTFA was either disingenuous or total naivety on their part.
I could only guess that just maybe DJW was, or is on friendly terms with these obvious critics of a 3 month old federation, so therefore the wind of apprehension to call a spade a spade was not forthcoming with these yes men.
I have maintained that this here is the only reason why TT football is still, and has remained in the doldrums all these decades, it’s because of all the hungry dogs under the master’s table for years waiting and hoping that a substantial bone would fall their way, and neglecting to understand the reason why they are involved in football in the first place.
at this point all we could do is hope and pray that God on high would be merciful and put a stop to these obvious impediments to trinidad and tobago football once and for all eliminating all fungus and parasites from our beloved sport leaving it in the hands of caring capable insightful people, who IMO just might be this united TTFA, and keep men like Brent Sancho and DJW and his accomplices very very far from our football. at this point it’s out of our hands forumites, all we could do now is pray and hope that God hears us.
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Brian Williams work for DJW for umpteen years you have to remember.
I really shame of my fellow countrymen. So called patriots
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I was reading a news article where Ramdhan and lok loy locked horns on the issue of the normalization committee and information sharing done by mr ramdhan. now one of the things that eats me about trinidad and tobago and the way they do business down there is the fact that the media always have some tale to tell about some petty disagreement that took place between folks in positions of importance. why does everything has to reach the point where grown men have to run to the media every time they take the piss of each other? FFS man grow up people.
as it stands FIFA is already breathing down our necks yet every Monday morning Keith lok loy and someone on the committee is having a row that somehow makes sport news, just recently fenwick had to apologize to someone else on the board over something silly, so why is it that these people in the federation cant sit down quietly and privately and iron out their differences behind close doors, why do my people love so much staging and media coverage?
I think wallace needs to think long and hard about how to approach this presidency and how well they could keep their heads together putting egos aside while keeping the media out of their business by giving them little to nothing to report.
and I must say though, the TT media is one wretched profession. if a snake makes its way down town that makes the news, if an old woman fell on the sidewalk it makes news, if a dog drinks from the canal, it’s more than likely to make the news. so where are we going with all and this media frenzy? IMO this could never be good for a country's image when you have desperate journalist running around scrapping up stories from off the ground just so that they can stay relevant.
IMO the media was very instrumental in bringing down this very young federation that is why if, and i say this optimistically, if the TTFA were to be reinstated, then they must change the way they do business, and should no longer allow the media in their bedroom, just keep them in your verandah where they belong.
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After ww2 Germany benefitted from a “debt jubilee”. It’s origins dating back to the Jewish presence in ancient Babylon.
Hypothetically, let’s just say the g20 decides to entertain the idea of a debt jubilee to prevent the impending global depression.
And our beloved politicians locally follow suit as usual, theoretically this would erase all of ttfa debt owed. In the event of that happening, it would mean the FIFA NC would no longer be needed in theory. The clean slate would present a unique opportunity for Wallace and Look Loy to rebuild without the burden and the monkey on their back.
Keep in mind this idea is being floated around to save the global economy, but it’s still hypothetical and in its early stages. But it could save our football from FIFA neo colonialism .....
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Contro, yuh slipping. :devil:
Render unnecessary? The NC was "unnecessary" from jump. A priori and a posteriori.
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Ramdhan, Look Loy lock horns over FIFA's Normalisation Committee
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Ramesh Ramdhan, general secretary of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), has said he will not be drawn into an unnecessary fight with Keith Look Loy, the former chairman of the TTFA technical committee, over alleged information being leaked to the new FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, which has taken control of T&T football.
Look Loy, "I had no issue with Ramdhan giving information to Hadad because he is an employee of the TTFA."
Ramdhan, a former World Cup referee now turned football administrator has been providing requested information to the Normalisation committee which was installed last week, is being led by businessman Robert Hadad, and include Attorney Judy Daniel and retired banker Nigel Romano, a director and partner of Moore T&T.
The controversial former TTFA technical committee chairman, who is also a member of the board of directors of TTFA by virtue of being the T&T Super League’s President said if Ramdhan wanted to take a political position, he would have to resign because he (Look Loy) recognises Wallace as the president of the TTFA.
Contacted on Friday, Ramdhan made it clear that when he received a letter from football’s world governing body, FIFA, requesting that he stay on to help the normalisation committee last Thursday, he immediately telephoned William Wallace, the former president TTFA, to inform him.
He said Wallace told him to do what he had to do and noted that the sport should not be allowed to suffer at any time.
Ramdhan, who made it clear he was not beholden to the persons who appointed him as general secretary as his position was an independent one, is directing Look Loy to the TTFA’s constitution which gives him the right to share info, being the go-to man from FIFA, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), the Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), as well as all other football-related bodies on matters.
According to the TTFA constitution, the general secretariat shall carry out all the administrative work of TTFA under the direction of the general secretary. The members of the general secretariat are bound by the Internal Organisation Regulations and shall fulfil the given tasks in good faith:
1. The general secretary is the chief executive officer of the general secretariat;
2. He shall be appointed on the basis of an agreement governed by private law and shall have the necessary professional qualifications;
3. He shall be responsible for: a) implementing decisions passed by the general meeting and board of directors in compliance with the president’s directives; b) attending the general meeting and meetings of the board of directors, emergency committee and the standing and ad-hoc committees; c) organising the general meeting and meetings of the board of directors and other bodies; d) compiling the minutes for the meetings of the general meeting, board of directors, emergency committee and standing and ad-hoc committees; e) ensuring that the accounts of TTFA are properly managed and up to date; f) the correspondence of TTFA; g) relations with the members, committees, FIFA, CONCACAF and CFU; h) organising the general secretariat; i) the appointment and dismissal of staff working in the general secretariat upon approval of the president; j) the appointment and dismissal of managerial staff, upon approval of the president and the board of directors.
4. The general secretary may not be a delegate at the general meeting or a member of any body of TTFA.
Ramdhan, who has not been paid salaries for four months and was the one who borrowed monies to ensure staff members were paid their February wages, has dismissed calls by the former chairman of the technical committee Look Loy for him to resign as general secretary if he wants to get into the politics of football.
“I came into the United TTFA to serve football and to date, I still want to serve the sport. I have been liaising with Hadad and sharing information with respect to football,” said Ramdhan, telling Guardian Media Sports that he has spoken to Hadad about the non-payment of TTFA staff for the month of March.
Contacted yesterday, Wallace, did not see any problems with Ramdhan’s commitment as secretary.
“If he is the secretary of the normalisation committee then he has to act as such and that is it. I do not see anything that points to Ramdhan getting into the politics of the game. Ramdhan has also taken the position to be secretary, which is fine for me,” Wallace said.
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Mr Look Loy needs to chill if his PRESIDENT is cool. He not and didn’t want to be in charge. Not everyone agrees with one’s view, so get closer to them to try and see theirs.
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Contro, yuh slipping. :devil:
Render unnecessary? The NC was "unnecessary" from jump. A priori and a posteriori.
Hmm, I’m not slipping... it was already a farce my friend...
Rendered irrelevant comes from the perspective of FIFA, meaning they would have no justification to launch this attack bc in essence there would be no longer a debt ;)
They would not be able to use the debt to justify their illegal move anymore...
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Boy I could see it now. Now that the debt erase we still need the normalization committee to put financial measures and best practices in place.
Wallace and them need to follow this investigation all the way through no matter what the consequences. That is the only way.
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Mr Look Loy needs to chill if his PRESIDENT is cool. He not and didn’t want to be in charge. Not everyone agrees with one’s view, so get closer to them to try and see theirs.
thats exactly my point. since the United ttfa won the election the only time you heard from wallace was when they were making positive moves, the man was quiet and subdued throughout the process. now I don’t know if he knew that some how the fat boss was cooking up a scheme in his diabolical kitchen and was keeping an eye on the creep having prior knowledge of how mad minded he was and could get into mischief, the same way he did during the build up of the election with the Nike fiasco, but wallace was certainly diligent.
Keith on the other hand was not so cautious.
every other week on the papers there was an article involving Keith lok loy exchanging unpleasantries with someone over something minor, if it’s not fenwick it’s sancho and this one and that one and the other one. come on people where we going with that?
Look around us and you would see how other presidents in the region dealt with abnormalities, they bunkered down and kept things in the board room. you rarely hear from the the american, canadian or the Mexican federation, apart from gullati launching a program to benefit the sport, how often we heard of him in the media during his tenure?
we in trinidad love too much mix up and gallantry. every time you look around it’s some unnecessary tussle taking place over child’s play, and if we are to be taken seriously the we need to stop that and begin to operate professionally like the big boys of the world do, and keep the media far away from our business. that goes for political too. it’s just disgusting to behold.
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Boy I could see it now. Now that the debt erase we still need the normalization committee to put financial measures and best practices in place.
Wallace and them need to follow this investigation all the way through no matter what the consequences. That is the only way.
you just took the words right off my finger tips mate. i was just beginning to type when your post came in. according to fifa it’s about constitutional reform, transparency and debt management, that was their trumped up reasons for removing a constitutionally elected federation, not suspending, but removing permanently from the position.
years ago i used to wonder how did the world allow a group of old crooks to congregate and take over a whole sport allowing them to do as they like without as much as a push back from the economic super powers of the world.
I remembered years ago when Jennings was pursuing FIFA with ferocity no one stood with him and made their voices heard apart from the english FA, even the Americans were silent until the World Cup bid where they both were undone by jack warner, and even then we were in support of FIFA when the Americans and the brits were trying to bring them down, and our federation stood quietly along with the rest of concacaf,
and had it not been for america and their pressure on FIFA, jack warner would still be in charge of football in TT and we would still be crying when would it end. I think now is as good time as any to join forces and rid the world of FIFA for good, and a responsible body put in place with a fair and conscientious constitution, or else we would get formats like what we have in the World Cup qualifying in concacaf, and four and a half spots for spa confederation with that only has ten teams, and three and a half spots for a federation with 41 teams, how on earth could that be fair.
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Look Loy under fire from TTSL VP, clubs
T&T Guardian
The decision of the T&T Super League (TTSL) to throw financial support behind the former T&T Football Association (TTFA), four executive members, in their efforts to fight the world governing body for football, FIFA, through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, for removing them from office on March 17, is being challenged.
On Thursday, Keith Look Loy, president of the TTSL, who is also the former chairman of the TTFA technical committee, said the majority of clubs in the super league have agreed to give US$2,000 (estimated TT$12,000) as a donation to help cover the legal fees of the TTFA, which stands at an estimated TT$300,000 to $500,000.
The former TTFA officers have so far raised US$1,905 through its https:/www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention account.
The former TTFA executive officers who will be represented by Attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle launched a ‘go fund me’ initiative on March 30, which called on members of the public to give generously to cover the cost of their legal challenge.
The former executives of president William Wallace and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Warrick-Joseph and Joseph 'Sam' Phillip are trying to garner financial support, after FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to manage the affairs of local football on March 27.
However, some clubs have said they were unfairly left out of the decision-making process as they were never consulted.
Jameson Rigues, TTSL’s first vice president as well as Guaya United owner Randy Hagley, Derek Edwards of Petit Valley/Diego Martin United and Police have said they only learned that such a decision was made via the media.
Rigues also explained that several clubs that were suspended from not competing in the league’s last two competitions have also called him seeking answers. The 2019 season was contested by 13 clubs.
“As a board member, I have received no letter of communication, no email or WhatsApp message seeking support for the TTFA. In fact, I believe that by Look Loy is being heavily involved in the then TTFA as a former board member and technical committee chairman, I see it as a direct conflict of interest as he lobbies for something that would directly impact him,” Rigues explained.
He said, “Clubs such as Marabella Family Crisis Centre, Harlem Strikers, Defence Force, 1976 Phoenix among others, should be given respect and honour as shareholders, although being suspended. The clubs believe they should have been part of a decision that would impact on the monies that they are invested. Where is the financial statement of the organisation, and how much do we have in our accounts, and can we afford to spend that kind of money on former TTFA members. I think this is very unfair.”
Asked by Guardian Media Sports if as First vice president of Super League if he was part of the League's decision to give TTFA support to challenge FIFA decision to send a Normalisation Committee to fix T&T football? Riques said: "I learned of the league's decision via a newspapers article on March 24 and I learned of the decision to donate US$2000 to United TTFA to challenge FIFA in CAS via a TV Sports report."
Questioned further as to if the President's actions are a conflict of interest Riques replied, "I find the TTSL President, Keith Look Loy is operating like he has something to hide. Those actions call into question an abuse of power, because there is no transparency in the manner that those decisions were made, and here you are making announcements in the media about TTSL support. Who really knows how many clubs were For or Against these decisions? Where is the evidence? Where is the transparency? He wouldn't run it by me because he knows that I will ask the right questions. I think that the method utilized, without transparency was to manipulate the clubs."
TTSL’s membership of some 22 clubs has whittled down to 13 presently, due to issues of non-compliance, inability to pay registration fees, club drop-outs and a clause which leads to automatic suspension if clubs miss consecutive competitions in the League.
Rigues called for the names of the clubs that agreed to support the TTFA, to be put out to the public for all to see.
Guardian Media Sports sent three questions via WhatsApp to Super League president Look Loy regarding the questions and comments made by Rigues and some club officials, however, he read the message but up to press time he did not reply.
Meanwhile, Colin Murray, a member of TTSL’s board of directors said he knows for sure that letters of the request were sent out to the membership via email and WhatsApp, and he knows that about eight or nine clubs responded positively.
When contacted two of the clubs that heeded the call of the TTFA request were Erin FC and Prison FC. Prisons manager Ferdinand Bibby said, his club’s decision to support the former TTFA was to show the other clubs that the membership will be ready to support clubs that fall on hard times.
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Boy I could see it now. Now that the debt erase we still need the normalization committee to put financial measures and best practices in place.
Wallace and them need to follow this investigation all the way through no matter what the consequences. That is the only way.
It’s an investigation with no merit brother..
Their basis is what exactly? The financial measures and best practices were already there and Wallace and team were improving on it and getting to the bottom of it, until fifa intervened to save their neck...
Basically fifa is appointing whoever they want to lead our football, they don’t care and want to sabotage us, the Cfu having no power is further evidence of their true goal.... all of sudden corneal and others names are showing up on positions... wth is that?
Without the debt, fifa has no legs to stand on bc they are using that as an excuse which they allowed to happen under the dictator... Hadad knew before he was going to be selected, even if there was an interview, it would be to tow the line...
Our nation is filled with puppets, they also know Look Loy will retire in 2 years, so hence the 24 months to ensure progress doesn’t happen
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When I reference investigation I do not mean the normalization committee. I mean the investigation that Wallace and them initiated into the home of football and the financial malpractice of the previous administration. We need to follow that to the end to unravel all this FIFA corruption
We on the same page
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Najjar gives TTFA challenge little chance of success
Jamaica Gleaner
Former Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) head coach Dr Hannibal Najjar has held out little hope for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against FIFA’s sudden takeover of the organisation.
“I don’t think they have a chance in hell or heaven to be represented because I don’t think we’ve got ourselves strong enough,” Najjar told CNC3 TV here.
“They don’t have enough experience in them and enough contacts to see who they would be able to call to get some kind of assistance on what they could do.
“To come in and move them out in the first place … means they were the wrong choice. You never thought they would’ve won.”
In a sudden move last month, football’s governing body announced that it was replacing the William Wallace-led TTFA executive with a normalisation committee just four months after being elected.
This followed an assessment of the TTFA’s finances, carried out by FIFA, which revealed “extremely low overall financial management methods combined with a massive debt”.
RISK OF INSOLVENCY
With the TTFA “facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”, FIFA said that it would take charge of the daily operations of the organisation for the next two years so that “corrective measures [could] be applied urgently”.
However, Wallace pushed back against the decision, announcing that the TTFA had retained legal counsel and would “oppose FIFA’s injustice” at the CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Najjar, who led T&T in a handful of matches before quitting in 2003, said he had been left “traumatised” by FIFA’s actions.
“It’s a mess, not only the last few weeks, but it (TTFA) has been running as a messy affair for the last few years,” said Najjar.
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
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If appellants the world over declined to pursue the right to appeal based on speculatively unfavorable outcomes or the lack of favorable certainty, there would be an abundance of injustices ratified by inaction and myriad impediments to human progress as we have known it.
The naysayers fail to appreciate that pursuit of this appeal is fundamental - immaterial of the ultimate conclusion - and that failing to appeal would constitute acquiescence in an injustice.
There is little to no question that FIFA has not acted in good faith and that essentially FIFA and CONCACAF have abused their discretion for reasons beyond the formal assertions rendered. When did integrity earn a price tag?
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
Absolutely. And, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago should be at the forefront of pursuing its own inquiry.
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Mr Look Loy needs to chill if his PRESIDENT is cool. He not and didn’t want to be in charge. Not everyone agrees with one’s view, so get closer to them to try and see theirs.
Disagree. Will explain below.
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Ramdhan, Look Loy lock horns over FIFA's Normalisation Committee
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Ramesh Ramdhan, general secretary of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), has said he will not be drawn into an unnecessary fight with Keith Look Loy, the former chairman of the TTFA technical committee, over alleged information being leaked to the new FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, which has taken control of T&T football.
Look Loy, "I had no issue with Ramdhan giving information to Hadad because he is an employee of the TTFA."
Ramdhan, a former World Cup referee now turned football administrator has been providing requested information to the Normalisation committee which was installed last week, is being led by businessman Robert Hadad, and include Attorney Judy Daniel and retired banker Nigel Romano, a director and partner of Moore T&T.
The controversial former TTFA technical committee chairman, who is also a member of the board of directors of TTFA by virtue of being the T&T Super League’s President said if Ramdhan wanted to take a political position, he would have to resign because he (Look Loy) recognises Wallace as the president of the TTFA.
Contacted on Friday, Ramdhan made it clear that when he received a letter from football’s world governing body, FIFA, requesting that he stay on to help the normalisation committee last Thursday, he immediately telephoned William Wallace, the former president TTFA, to inform him.
He said Wallace told him to do what he had to do and noted that the sport should not be allowed to suffer at any time.
Ramdhan, who made it clear he was not beholden to the persons who appointed him as general secretary as his position was an independent one, is directing Look Loy to the TTFA’s constitution which gives him the right to share info, being the go-to man from FIFA, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), the Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), as well as all other football-related bodies on matters.
According to the TTFA constitution, the general secretariat shall carry out all the administrative work of TTFA under the direction of the general secretary. The members of the general secretariat are bound by the Internal Organisation Regulations and shall fulfil the given tasks in good faith:
1. The general secretary is the chief executive officer of the general secretariat;
2. He shall be appointed on the basis of an agreement governed by private law and shall have the necessary professional qualifications;
3. He shall be responsible for: a) implementing decisions passed by the general meeting and board of directors in compliance with the president’s directives; b) attending the general meeting and meetings of the board of directors, emergency committee and the standing and ad-hoc committees; c) organising the general meeting and meetings of the board of directors and other bodies; d) compiling the minutes for the meetings of the general meeting, board of directors, emergency committee and standing and ad-hoc committees; e) ensuring that the accounts of TTFA are properly managed and up to date; f) the correspondence of TTFA; g) relations with the members, committees, FIFA, CONCACAF and CFU; h) organising the general secretariat; i) the appointment and dismissal of staff working in the general secretariat upon approval of the president; j) the appointment and dismissal of managerial staff, upon approval of the president and the board of directors.
4. The general secretary may not be a delegate at the general meeting or a member of any body of TTFA.
Ramdhan, who has not been paid salaries for four months and was the one who borrowed monies to ensure staff members were paid their February wages, has dismissed calls by the former chairman of the technical committee Look Loy for him to resign as general secretary if he wants to get into the politics of football.
“I came into the United TTFA to serve football and to date, I still want to serve the sport. I have been liaising with Hadad and sharing information with respect to football,” said Ramdhan, telling Guardian Media Sports that he has spoken to Hadad about the non-payment of TTFA staff for the month of March.
Contacted yesterday, Wallace, did not see any problems with Ramdhan’s commitment as secretary.
“If he is the secretary of the normalisation committee then he has to act as such and that is it. I do not see anything that points to Ramdhan getting into the politics of the game. Ramdhan has also taken the position to be secretary, which is fine for me,” Wallace said.
Look Loy is correct. The belated decision to deploy Ramdhan is a politically motivated decision designed to frustrate, co-opt, compromise and divide unified action by the Wallace administration.
There is not synonymity between the position of federation GS and the position of secretary to the NC. Ramdhan's role in stimulating the appeal to CAS and the tenor of his communications to VMO are what stimulated FIFA to bring him into the NC apparatus (undoubtedly in consultation with CONCACAF).
A man can't effectively serve two masters simultaneously despite the naive notion of "what is best for football" and the hollowness of representing that he has no master under either scenario, both of which require guided and mastered action.
Similarly no one acting as secretary to the NC can essentially exude the independence that Ramdhan professes he will exert. That's simply not the nature of the beast or its burden.
A formal resignation as GS should be the precursor to becoming secretary of the NC for several reasons - one of which includes that FIFA's obviation of the Wallace-led executive did not insulate Ramdhan with continuity in office and Ramdhan's implicit politicisation of the GS role stands in contradiction to the appeal process in the public interest of T&T football stakeholders vis-a-vis the opposing interests of the NC ... although ostensibly there is a supposed intersectionality of interests.
Mr. Wallace, FIFA is playing a well-considered game of chess. Doh mistake it for draughts.
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I think I follow your point, however, As Ramdhan at present is the person responsible for most of the communication between Fifa and the new TTFA. i.e. The primary witness to the reported transgressions of the chief FIFA official for the region as well as the reporting of those of the previous admin. We don't want him to resign and pull out at this point.
I get the impression that the majority although certain that Fifa was incorrect in their decision/actions, we do not need to go to WAR with Fifa to prove their actions wrong. War leaves casualties whereby many lower in the totem pole and lowest in rank, discouraged, disabled or dead on both sides, while the top guys celebrate success or surrender. We can appease FIFA by displaying we are not at war with them, even if we disagree with their action.
If we seem to be fighting amongst ourselves even as we try to argue why we should be left in charge, then we already lost our argument before we make our appeal to have this decision revised. More reason for Fifa to display why their decision is in fact correct. As someone says certain things have to be decided and worked out behind closed doors, and if 3 FOR and 2 against, we have to present we are in agreement FOR. Otherwise, yes a Normailsation Comittee will be necessary. No ?
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
Absolutely. And, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago should be at the forefront of pursuing its own inquiry.
Especially considering their (tax-payers) contributions.
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When I reference investigation I do not mean the normalization committee. I mean the investigation that Wallace and them initiated into the home of football and the financial malpractice of the previous administration. We need to follow that to the end to unravel all this FIFA corruption
We on the same page
you rarely post but when you do you drop the knowledge hard. i would like nothing better than for them to pursue DJW hard and relentlessly to expose his nefarious dealings with fifa even if we are banned indefinitely.
i think they have nothing to lose and everything to gain if they go after this glorified hotel called the HOF to uncover it's skeletons that the fat boss have buried, i'm sure they could find something to convict gianni on or at very least remove him and victor dog and all the sell outs who facilitate them. but that would be a big miracle wouldn’t? and a most welcome one at that.
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maxg is nothing less than war!
You feel Fifa coming to take prisoners? It not in their best interests to leave anybody of the past admin alive (relevant)
In case you missed it this was a root and branch action.
This thing goes beyond the boundary.
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maxg is nothing less than war!
You feel Fifa coming to take prisoners? It not in their best interests to leave anybody of the past admin alive (relevant)
In case you missed it this was a root and branch action.
This thing goes beyond the boundary.
so does that mean even if we win at CAS we lose? let be hypothetical here and say we won the case and FIFA reinstate us, not getting their desired results, wouldn’t you think that they would use every trick in the book including poor officiating to punish us, and wouldn’t it be better if they were removed all togetherfora new administration?
The way I see it is that we need at least the support of CFU members, but since these fellers are all soft bellied yes men, to be comfortable we would need at least half the member states to support so that FIFA would have no choice but to bide by their losses without causing any further disenfranchisement.
I agree with you, no friendly encounter with these mobsters, it’s all out war or nothing at all. I got to who be honest here, I thought after blatter and warner this organization was above board and cleansed of its evil ways, and I find it shocking that they would meddle in the affairs of confederations, trying to install people who would vote for them instead of encouraging free and fair elections.
IMO there must be a rival to this administration who wants to challenge them next election that the ttfa could complain too, even a media house who has it in for infantino like Jennings had it in for blatter, there has to be.
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When is the next FIFA elections, and who are the candidates?
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A comment regarding normalization made in recent months. The winds were already blowing in the direction.
...
Maybe from a fan perspective it would be strategic to trigger government intervention into the affairs of the national federation. Eventually that would pick the TTFA president and his collaborators as losers and the national community as winners.
Mr. Prime Minister, it's a winning proposition and a vote getter. Have you seen the response to the petition? It's a referendum on the land provided by the State to the TTFA.
Always better to grab the bull by the horns than to have de bull grab you by the horns.
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When is the next FIFA elections, and who are the candidates?
You feel this thing is joke? Infantino ran unopposed last June.
He in office until 2023.... or more like whenever he get pried out like his successors.
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
Absolutely. And, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago should be at the forefront of pursuing its own inquiry.
Especially considering their (tax-payers) contributions.
Precisely. And, the Prime Minister's comments made subsequent to my posts in July and November bolster that view.
Additionally, the government's interest in the HoF is more than esoteric. Although the PM portrayed it as the GoTT having washed its hands of the project after providing the land to the TTFA, that is not a sustainable position because the government holds an expectational interest in the outcome that did not cease with conveying the land to the TTFA. And, there has-been a failure of regulatory oversight by government entities regarding the fulfilment of that expectational interest because the HoF has deficiencies that block it from serving the purpose for which it was represented as being constructed.
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maxg is nothing less than war!
You feel Fifa coming to take prisoners? It not in their best interests to leave anybody of the past admin alive (relevant)
In case you missed it this was a root and branch action.
This thing goes beyond the boundary.
Ok. Let's say we go to war. We David(WW), them Goliath(INfantino et al). We win our case, but them say nah is War, Goliath ain't dead, just lost the battle, long live Fifa, so they suspend the current TTFA for not conforming to their decisions or maybe not releasing equal normal funding as given to other regional members (they can trump up something).Exhb a) So we have the right people, but no income, Government can't help, as all potential funding used up in present and future replenishment from fallout of Covid19. Debt still unrelaxed. Sponsorship revised and unable to assist. Covid19. Staff still to be paid, but no funds. Staff has to leave to find other jobs. Cases /Lawyers for the items with Walkes, Warner, Phillips, Hart, and whatever outstanding creditors, willing to take negotiate less, yet no funds. We can't raise a penny to play a fete match, farless put a team together. However, our best Players agree to play for free and come on their own bill. Who we playing and where ?
Thing is, I ok with that. At this time, world economy and social values will be changing and the recovery of all countries will be of paramount. This gives our football, time to develop(5-10yrs) and then we can reapply to join world organization, IF so desired.
Scenario B
We loss, NC is maintained, but we at War. No cooperation. Fifa withhold funding - Right ppl for some, still restricted income , but some. No staff, no confidence, no support. Football not going anywhere, as organization and admin is the focus. No football for a few years, Electorial body instill, the wrong people. We protest, Fifa suspend. and above occurs.
In war, there is not necessarily prisoners, when there are very few witnesses. Just graves. Then there is the fact that we have spies, traitors and turncoats in our ranks. What is point of winning the battle to lose the War. No, I think we should avoid War as long as we can, so if and when it does come we are prepared to win, regardless of the earlier battles. We first have to be a majority on the same page, have the same goals and commitment. Lest we lose every battle due to a knife in the back.
add: I understand most ppl points, but we are already hard done by. I am just wary of cutting off our noses to spite our faces. We can't just look at how it affects us as fans, but how it affects our country and our people, especially our youth. I know I can survive without Fifa, but do we have the ppl who can function without that dream at present ? not sure. My mind is still open to strategies doh.
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Dahis food for thought.
If only we could change to an economy that exports traitors, spies, turncoats and backstabbers. We might have a trailor load plus.
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I have a question to all football loving fans of TnT football fans ! What must the ttfa do in this instance as it relates to Fifa's stance by removing a democratically elected team of officials of the current ttfa body ? An election they ( Fifa ) themselves oversaw ! In all seriousness it is inconceivable that Fifa now to choose invalidate the William Wallace elected body to replace it by one of their Fifa choosing ! Yet many are now coming out of the woodwork siding with Fifa's unjust albeit nonsensical explaination for the position they have taken . It is an outrage and should be called exactly that . It is unjust and should be called that . What must the ttfa do ? Should the ttfa In all fairness Go on blended knees begging please? What example are we setting to the younger ones by allowing such ugliness on the part of Fifa , to continue . This is not about ego on the part of the current ttfa to take a firm stance against what Fifa has done or is attempting to do as claim by Fifa , it is simply addressing an act of injustice that's my view . Stand up against injustice falling to do so is allowing abuses to continue
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I have a question to all football loving fans of TnT football fans ! What must the ttfa do in this instance as it relates to Fifa's stance by removing a democratically elected team of officials of the current ttfa body ? An election they ( Fifa ) themselves oversaw ! In all seriousness it is inconceivable that Fifa now to choose invalidate the William Wallace elected body to replace it by one of their Fifa choosing ! Yet many are now coming out of the woodwork siding with Fifa's unjust albeit nonsensical explaination for the position they have taken . It is an outrage and should be called exactly that . It is unjust and should be called that . What must the ttfa do ? Should the ttfa In all fairness Go on blended knees begging please? What example are we setting to the younger ones by allowing such ugliness on the part of Fifa , to continue . This is not about ego on the part of the current ttfa to take a firm stance against what Fifa has done or is attempting to do as claim by Fifa , it is simply addressing an act of injustice that's my view . Stand up against injustice falling to do so is allowing abuses to continue
Ent.
There was injustice in 1974; we ate that. There have been subsequent injustices that were eaten. But for some iz just to bounce from one "eat a food" session to the next. Nonsense.
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I have a question to all football loving fans of TnT football fans ! What must the ttfa do in this instance as it relates to Fifa's stance by removing a democratically elected team of officials of the current ttfa body ? An election they ( Fifa ) themselves oversaw ! In all seriousness it is inconceivable that Fifa now to choose invalidate the William Wallace elected body to replace it by one of their Fifa choosing ! Yet many are now coming out of the woodwork siding with Fifa's unjust albeit nonsensical explaination for the position they have taken . It is an outrage and should be called exactly that . It is unjust and should be called that . What must the ttfa do ? Should the ttfa In all fairness Go on blended knees begging please? What example are we setting to the younger ones by allowing such ugliness on the part of Fifa , to continue . This is not about ego on the part of the current ttfa to take a firm stance against what Fifa has done or is attempting to do as claim by Fifa , it is simply addressing an act of injustice that's my view . Stand up against injustice falling to do so is allowing abuses to continue
Totally agree, but Stand up and do the necessary in such a way that it does not lead to additional injustice. It's most discouraging and disappointing when one buys a victim's fight against a bully and the victim help the bully buss yuh ass. And the ppl who witness and standby just observing buffing yuh for getting involved in the first place. As I tell my kids, living in any society-sometimes class filled and racial- especially an unequal one, choose yuh battles and expect no help. At the end of the day, if you win, many will say how correct and commendable it was for you to stand up, when you win. And those same ppl will chastise you for not being smart and practical when you lose. Pick yuh battles and plan for the future, but by all means battle.
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
Absolutely. And, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago should be at the forefront of pursuing its own inquiry.
Especially considering their (tax-payers) contributions.
Precisely. And, the Prime Minister's comments made subsequent to my posts in July and November bolster that view.
Additionally, the government's interest in the HoF is more than esoteric. Although the PM portrayed it as the GoTT having washed its hands of the project after providing the land to the TTFA, that is not a sustainable position because the government holds an expectational interest in the outcome that did not cease with conveying the land to the TTFA. And, there has-been a failure of regulatory oversight by government entities regarding the fulfilment of that expectational interest because the HoF has deficiencies that block it from serving the purpose for which it was represented as being constructed.
Hope, assumption and opinion my friend... that doesn’t correlate to actual reality and govt action, or inaction in this case
Why would it be more than esoteric to them if they were complicit? Hypothetically speaking
And if there wasn’t some collusion, the govt of TT washing their hands of the situation wouldn’t have even been mentioned tbh
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
Absolutely. And, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago should be at the forefront of pursuing its own inquiry.
Especially considering their (tax-payers) contributions.
Ideally yes, but the govt has never had the ideal approach tbh
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When I reference investigation I do not mean the normalization committee. I mean the investigation that Wallace and them initiated into the home of football and the financial malpractice of the previous administration. We need to follow that to the end to unravel all this FIFA corruption
We on the same page
:beermug:
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There should be / need to be further investigation into Djw and Fifa officials as it relates to the home football project !
Won’t happen by the govt, bc they are equally corrupt..
Wallace initiated and they cut the chord and called for the NC... it’s a Lone Ranger type of scenario where the govt will stay quiet unless their names are dragged into it with evidence
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When is the next FIFA elections, and who are the candidates?
You feel this thing is joke? Infantino ran unopposed last June.
He in office until 2023.... or more like whenever he get pried out like his successors.
Because head of CAF is his riding partner and Cfu is dismantled ...
With a united front for Cfu that opposes neo colonialism they are in trouble, even worse with CAF... Africa needs to get its act together
African football has not progressed and they hold the most power in the world of football
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Dahis food for thought.
If only we could change to an economy that exports traitors, spies, turncoats and backstabbers. We might have a trailor load plus.
A quarter of the nation fits into that category nicely.. eat ah food mentality above the people as a whole
TT has effectively killed its chances of being a progressive stable democracy with a strong sports, health, any sector ... only carnival functions well but the music has gone to the dogs
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I have a question to all football loving fans of TnT football fans ! What must the ttfa do in this instance as it relates to Fifa's stance by removing a democratically elected team of officials of the current ttfa body ? An election they ( Fifa ) themselves oversaw ! In all seriousness it is inconceivable that Fifa now to choose invalidate the William Wallace elected body to replace it by one of their Fifa choosing ! Yet many are now coming out of the woodwork siding with Fifa's unjust albeit nonsensical explaination for the position they have taken . It is an outrage and should be called exactly that . It is unjust and should be called that . What must the ttfa do ? Should the ttfa In all fairness Go on blended knees begging please? What example are we setting to the younger ones by allowing such ugliness on the part of Fifa , to continue . This is not about ego on the part of the current ttfa to take a firm stance against what Fifa has done or is attempting to do as claim by Fifa , it is simply addressing an act of injustice that's my view . Stand up against injustice falling to do so is allowing abuses to continue
Ent.
There was injustice in 1974; we ate that. There have been subsequent injustices that were eaten. But for some iz just to bounce from one "eat a food" session to the next. Nonsense.
Seeker I could not agree wid yuh more ! And I clearly recall that 1974 robbery of our national team in Haiti ! As yuh say too many bounce from one ( eat ah food ) to de next, what ah shame doh !
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Wallace, sacked TTFA executive to file CAS appeal.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
MEMBERS OF the sacked executive of the TTFA (TT Football Association) – president William Wallace and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip – will be filing their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as they try to thwart FIFA’s running of the local governing body.
FIFA implemented a normalisation committee, headed by local businessman Robert Hadad, on March 17 and replaced the TTFA’s board, on the basis of mounting debts and financial mismanagement.
Wallace, who took over from David John-Williams as TTFA president on November 24, 2019, is using the legal team of Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle to fight his group’s battle against the global governing body.
On Monday, Gayle said, “The necessary fee to CAS has been paid and the statement of appeal will be filed (by Tuesday).”
The fee, which is required to lodge the complaint to CAS, is 1,000 Swiss francs (TT $7,000).
There has been public debate over whether or not Wallace and his team will be successful in their legal venture, but Gayle said, “Our view is that the normalisation committee has no legitimacy. There is no basis in law for FIFA or any other external body to interfere with the day-to-day running of the TTFA. That’s really where we’re at.
“Nothing has changed in that regard, notwithstanding the fact that FIFA purports to have appointed some of the members of the normalisation committee. Even the appointment of the normalisation committee has not been in keeping with FIFA’s own statutes.” Gayle mentioned, “Statute 8.2 of the FIFA’s statutes sets out when you can appoint a normalisation committee and how a normalisation committee can be appointed. It hasn’t complied with what 8.2 says.”
According to article 8.2 of FIFA’s constitution, “Executive bodies of member associations may, under exceptional circumstances, be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.”
Gayle said, “More fundamentally than that, is the normalisation committee is purported to be the base in the running of a sovereign body which, quite frankly, it can’t do without the acquiesce of a sovereign body.”
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To the President of ttfa Mr. William Wallace and your legitimately elected team , it is with pride as a Trinbagonian i salute you for the principled and firm stance taken to proceed with your case to (Cas ) , inspite of all the naysayers as well as the doubters / defectors . It is the right thing to do, the pursuit of justice .
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Socalion,
I add my endorsement to this gesture. Proud to stand with people of integrity and backbone. True leadership.
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I support them all the way. Let Fifa know that they may be a big tree, we are a small axe, but we will ........
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He might not want to end up as pub trivia: Name a NT coach who never actually coached a single match during his tenure.
While this matter is one on which the advisable path is for the NT coach not to make a pronouncement, it's just the sort of circumstance that Terry Fenwick is likely to have a more than mild opinion on. The thing is, whichever way yuh map it, he's in the crosshairs. The heavy lifting is not mandatory for everyone.
Water carriers have a role and silence is also a temporary weapon.
:applause: :applause: :applause:
The honor has now gone to Ivan Jovanovic who, after being hired by the UAE in December, has been released from his contract without having had his team take the field. Jovanovic was on a contract of six months duration.
Word is that the same fate was heading Jordi Cruyff's way with Ecuador - before he decided to take a pay cut.
Of course, both of these situations are novel coronavirus-related.
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To the President of ttfa Mr. William Wallace and your legitimately elected team , it is with pride as a Trinbagonian i salute you for the principled and firm stance taken to proceed with your case to (Cas ) , inspite of all the naysayers as well as the doubters / defectors . It is the right thing to do, the pursuit of justice .
:beermug:
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The honor has now gone to Ivan Jovanovic
Is this true ?
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The honor has now gone to Ivan Jovanovic
Is this true ?
Not the T+T job. Membership in the fraternity of having had a NT coaching gig but never actually coaching the NT in a match.
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Wait for the out come with FIFA first, file # *** ****-*- 6915
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I just took a look to see an example of the workings of CAS in dealing with a football case
https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Award_CAS_5264-5265-5266_internet.pdf
Check the length of time to get a decision. I got almost 30 months of Lott’s a bs. Of Course The applicant submissions were dismissed.
Something had me lil confused doh.
It might be the fact that Inter Miami got in, Miami FC out. Anyone have any more info on their (FC) application?
Add: appeals might not be as long but given the current world situation, an early response or resolution might still be long rather than short term. Due to the same world situation, we have time.
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The everlasting T&T football and cricket controversies
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
April 5 - a glorious, sunny day. No English Premier League football, no Indian Premier League cricket or for that matter, nothing sporting wise to watch so just another day of lockdown; or so I thought.
But this is T&T so I picked up the Sunday Guardian and there were the headlines; one read, 'Look Loy under fire from TTSL VP, clubs’ and the other, ‘Dillon: I didn’t get TTCB November letter’.
Even with no activity on the sporting field, there is seldom a dull moment off the field especially with football and cricket in this country. So I thought let me delve into these stories.
Now, I have no allegiance to Look Loy and I only knew him from school days when he was a tough, no-nonsense centre-half playing for St Mary’s College. Off the field, he is the same way - what you see is exactly what you get. Our paths crossed a few times after that when he was on the technical staff of Malick Secondary and Joe Public F.C. while I was at Fatima and Carib FC so I hold no brief for him.
I have since served with him over the last few years on the board of the T&T Super League (TTSL) as I was nominated by Queen’s Park Cricket Club to be on said board. Like any president, he has his own views on how things should run but credit must go to the board members as if they don’t agree with something, they let him know and if need be, it is put to a vote; and if he wins or loses, we move on together like any democratic board.
When Mr. Look Loy called me asking if I would support the TTSL giving US$2,000 as a donation to help cover the legal fees of the former executive of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), in their fight against FIFA’s implementation of a normalisation committee to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I immediately said no. I felt it was not a board decision but rather a club decision to spend this money on legal fees.
As I was made to understand, I was the second board member to be contacted and as we both said no, Look Loy never bothered to contact the other members of the board as his next step was to contact all the clubs directly and allow them to make the decision.
I foresaw the responses coming from the clubs so I was indeed comfortable with the process. Ten clubs voted to support the TTFA and make the donation, two abstained and one replied by email asking if it was a joke. The evidence is there for all to see and I would say to those, seek and you shall find but there will always be those who don’t care to know the truth as many of us, unfortunately, thrive on propaganda and misinformation.
Perhaps I am simplifying the issue but it was a simple vote: yes or no to support the legal action of the TTFA board. Why even such a simple exercise must turn into stark controversy is baffling but once again, there are those in society who will oppose for opposing sake once they are not in charge or they don’t support who is in charge.
Look back at the TTSL, it is arguably one of the best-run leagues in the country. Fixtures are completed on time, payment to match officials are on time and once the sponsors who commit to sponsorship do their part, prize money is paid out.
Like Look Loy, I have no allegiance to Mervyn Dillon, T&T Red Force coach. I first encountered Mervyn when I managed the T&T regional team at the Red Stripe bowl back in Jamaica.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t continue with those duties due to my job commitments but then again, I was never asked after that. I suppose being persona non grata I didn’t fit the role that the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) was after.
To be honest, I do feel for Dillon but how do these irregularities happen? Dillon says he got no letter from the TTCB of their intention to advertise for his position when his contract ends but the board says he was informed via a letter in November? So who does one believe?
Again, something as simple as this turns into a big controversy. Don’t get me wrong, the board has all right to advertise the post but why am I getting the feeling that something is not sitting right? Is this the only post being advertised and if so why? Surely there must be a multitude of posts within the organisation to be advertised when the cricket season ends.
Please, correct me if I am wrong but I haven’t seen any advertisements for Under-19, U-17 coaches, etc. Aren’t coaches throughout the system just as important as the senior coach? It leaves me to wonder if Dillon’s position has been advertised for more than cricketing reasons.
Over the years, we have been humbled, humiliated and beaten and we never changed coach or for that matter, the entire management team. But, here is a case where we finished second and the team seemed to be improving and we are suddenly advertising for a senior coach.
Come on, TTCB. You can do better than this. If the incumbent is not wanted other than for cricketing reasons, then sack him and put the person whom you think is better suited to do the job; that is also within your right. But, how do you not rehire a man who led the team in the last three matches to a first innings win and two outright victories, one being against the champions?
Best of luck.
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Wallace: We are still in charge
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
William Wallace, who was removed as the president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) has made it known that he and his executive, vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph 'Sam' Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, are still in charge of the management of the sport in T&T.
Wallace, who is also the president of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), said in a video statement on Wednesday that he can only be removed by the operations of the TTFA's constitution and not by the sport's world governing body-FIFA, of which the country (TTFA) is a member.
On March 17, the FIFA informed the General Secretary of TTFA Ramesha Ramdhan that the executive has been removed and a normalization committee will govern the sport in T&T after it was felt that the instability of the TTFA, coupled with its unconvincing plans to clear debts that have crippled the sport for many years in the twin-island Republic, had left a lot to be desired. As such the FIFA enforced Article 8.2 of its Statutes, allowing a normalisation committee to take control of the sport for a maximum of two years.
The FIFA, which is headed by Gianni Infantino, who Wallace has fingered as a known supporter of the previous TTFA administration under David John-Williams, agreed to remove the William Wallace-led football executive, which was just three months into its four-year tenure, after being elected on November 24. On March 27 FIFA named the Normalisation Committee with businessman Robert Hadad as chairman, and Environmental Specialist and attorney Judy Daniel, as deputy chairman together with retired banker Nigel Ramano and said that two other members will be named soon. On Monday, the TTFA challenged FIFA's decision through the Court and Arbitration for Sports (CAS) based in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the FIFA headquarters is located.
However, Wallace made it clear that his association was formed by an act of Parliament to serve the public interest in the nation.
He said, "That our relationship with FIFA is vital. We the duly elected executive of the TTFA, cannot simply ignore the decision of the FIFA, which seeks to impinge on our national sovereignty and jeopardise football in T&T. We remain, however, committed to working constructively with the FIFA, and other international organisations in the interest of the sport and the interest of T&T."
In his video statement on Wednesday he said: "It is for this reason that two evenings ago, I gave instructions to the TTFA Attorneys to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), challenging FIFA's decision to attempt to interfere with the day-to-day affairs of the TTFA. The Attorneys have confirmed that this was done and that we have been assigned a case number (CAS 2020/A/6915).
"FIFA and its purported normalisation committee, headed by Hadad, had no standing. Make no mistake about it, we the duly and properly elected executive of the TTFA, remain in charge of the association's business."
Only this week, the TTFA, through its lawyers Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle officially filed an application to challenge FIFA through the CAS after paying a fee of $1,000 Swiss Francs. It is expected to pay another undisclosed amount for the service of the arbitrators.
Also on Wednesday, Wallace sought to dismiss claims the embattled football association could face being banned for challenging the FIFA.
The TTFA lawyers have proposed that Englishman Mark Hovell, a solicitor from Manchester, England, be the sole arbitrator in their case against football’s world governing body FIFA.
Hovell is a highly experienced sports lawyer and insolvency practitioner who specialises in regulatory, governance, commercial and financial matters, across all sports, both in the UK and across the world.
Additionally, he sits regularly as an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and The FA's regulatory commissions.
FIFA has until April 14 to submit their comments regarding the request - whether they agree to a sole arbitrator deciding matters and Hovell's appointment.
The local football boss said they are only following the guidelines of the FIFA Statutes, which gives member associations the right to challenge FIFA if they feel wronged in a situation. He made it clear he was not thinking about facing any suspension for the actions of the TTFA. However, Wallace promised it would be another matter, if the TTFA should be banned for following the Statutes of the FIFA, saying they will deal with that if and when it comes.
He told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that member associations could face a different action by FIFA if they challenge the world governing body through the local courts.
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Wallace: FIFA cannot remove me.
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).
FORMER TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace is adamant he is still the head of the association despite FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee. He said based on the TTFA’s constitution, FIFA cannot remove executive members from the board.
Wallace was elected TTFA president in November 2019, replacing the David John-Williams-led team.
Throughout their campaign, Wallace’s team promised to bring transparency and honesty to the association.
But in a release on March 17, FIFA said the decision was made because of the TTFA’s “low financial management methods” and “a massive debt.” It was done under article 8:2 of FIFA’s statutes and will be led by businessman Robert Hadad.
But in a video published on Wednesday, Wallace confirmed he and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip filed an appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said FIFA is trying to “jeopardise football in T&T.
“I was elected on a platform of transparency and financial probity. We stood in a position with the financial mismanagement, botched projects and the cronyism of the previous administration. We stood on a platform of eliminating the TTFA’s debt and returning football to the people of T&T.”
He said his team was not given a chance to implement its plans to resolve the association’s woes, calling the decision a “total injustice.”
He said normalisation committee “has no standing.
“To be clear, I remain the president of the TTFA based on our constitution. The TTFA was created by an act of parliament to serve the public interest.
“I can only be removed by the operation of the TTFA’s own constitution – not by FIFA.” But he said the association’s relationship with FIFA is vital and its decision cannot be ignored.
They will be represented by Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle to fight the group’s battle against the global governing body. He said they have since been assigned the case number CAS2020/a/6915.
“We remain committed to working constructively with FIFA and other international organisations in the interest of the sport and in the interest of T&T.
“Make no mistake about it, we the duly and properly elected executive of the TTFA, remain in charge of the association’s business.”
RELATED NEWS
Bring it on! Wallace and Look Loy discuss Fifa fight, media backlash and Peter Miller
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace vowed to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today, as the local body attempts to stave off a take-over by global governing body, Fifa.
On 17 March, Fifa general secretary Fatma Samoura announced the governing body’s decision to immediately replace the TTFA’s board with a normalisation committee, now headed by local businessman Robert Hadad.
Wallace, who was elected TTFA president on 24 November 2019, said the local body raised the 1,000 Swiss Francs (TT$7,000) necessary to lodge its complaint.
It could take another 15,000 Swiss Francs (TT$104,000) to meet the cost of arbitration. And that’s before things get really tricky, as TTFA attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle—who are working pro bono—cross swords with the legal team for the mammoth sporting body that has 201 member associations and cash reserves of over US$2.7 billion (TT$18 billion).
Wallace, who is also a retired vice-principal at the Carapichaima East Secondary school, is adamant about the morality of his position.
“For me, it is a matter of treating with injustice,” said Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace. “At the end of the day, I know we are going up against a mountain; but we have to tell our story—win, lose or draw.
“After that, whatever happens, happen.”
Article 8.2 of the Fifa constitution states that: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time’.
The seven-member Fifa Bureau of the Council, which is effectively the body’s emergency committee, claimed that the TTFA’s financial situation met its criteria of ‘exceptional circumstances’.
However, Fifa recognises CAS, a fellow Switzerland-based entity, as its final court of appeal (article 14 and 58) and Wallace hopes to sway the latter body. Fifa is based in Zurich while CAS is in Lausanne.
At present, CAS is only offering hearings via video conference, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and Wallace has no idea when an arbitrator will be appointed for their matter.
The Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL), Secondary School Football League (SSFL), Northern Football Association (NFA), Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA), TT Women’s League of Football (WoLF) and Trinidad and Tobago American Youth Soccer Organisation (TTAYSO) have offered written support of Wallace’s position.
They represent 17 of the TTFA’s 49 delegates, or roughly 35 percent of the local football ecosystem. Even then, the support is not necessarily unanimous; although, according to TTSL president Keith Look Loy, the divisions were possibly overstated in the media.
Thirteen TTSL clubs participated in the 2019 season. Ten of them voted to back Wallace. They were: Bethel United, Club Sando, Erin FC, FC Santa Rosa, Police FC, Prison Services, Petit Valley/Diego Martin United, RSSR FC, San Fernando Giants and UTT FC.
Matura ReUnited and QPCC, who have Hadad as a member, abstained. And Guaya United asked if the request was ‘a joke’.
Subsequent to the TTSL’s public declaration of support for the besieged TTFA president, Guaya manager Randy Hagley expressed dissatisfaction with the wording of the release—which said: ‘the clubs of the TTSL wish to communicate their support…’—while TTSL vice-president Jameson Rigues claimed to be unaware of the request for support.
Look Loy said Rigues was not informed because he opted to go straight to the clubs, who are voting delegates of the TTFA, rather than the TTSL’s board.
“I was doing a round robin of the board and I first approached Eddie Dean and Collin Murray and they said the clubs [rather than the board] should decide,” said Look Loy. “So I stopped the round robin right there and decided to go straight to the clubs. So I didn’t consult the rest of the board.
“[…] The decision was taken in a very transparent and democratic way. All of the clubs were advised of the issue. Ten voted in favour, two abstained and one did not agree.
“The issue [regarding whether the TTSL support for Wallace was overstated] is a non-issue but it is part of an ongoing attempt by some who are consumed by their hatred for Look Loy and are always guided by that.”
Look Loy suggested that there was a campaign by some media houses against the current TTFA administration and himself and pointed to the misinterpretation of his comments about TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan.
A TV6 report suggested that Look Loy accused Ramdhan of ‘leaking’ information to the normalisation committee. Sports reporter James Saunders told Wired868 that he took ownership for the mix-up, apologised and subsequently corrected the error on-air.
But the claim of internal discord was still republished in the Trinidad Guardian and discussed on air by I95.5FM.
“I think that the media—and in particular the Guardian Media—have taken up the mantle of some kind of campaign against the TTFA administration,” said Look Loy. “I will use the immediate example of this business with Ramdhan which was seized upon by the Guardian and I95.5.
“[…] It is unprofessional, lazy work at best; or, at worst, a campaign to sell the message that Look Loy is an ogre who is always looking to fight with somebody.”
Look Loy also took offence at a claim by Trinidad Guardian sports editor Keith Clement that the TTSL president was a friend of controversial British marketing official Peter Miller, and involved in a TTFA approach to the Arima Borough Corporation on behalf of obscure organisation, Lavender Consultants.
“I had no part in that [proposal] but then Clement writes a big article in the Guardian and says that Keith Look Loy is ‘reportedly a friend of Peter Miller’,” he said. “Why bring my name in that? I have absolutely nothing to do with that—I have never been in a meeting [and] I don’t know the details. To say that Miller and I have ever been in a project or any sort of business together is not true.
“[…] My focus is technical matters, criticise me for that. Don’t bring me into your foolishness if you want to criticise someone else’s portfolio… It must be that they feel I am the ramrod in the outfit, so let us go after him to undermine the credibility of the entire outfit.”
Clement and I95.5FM talk show host Andre Baptiste did not respond to requests for comments on their coverage of the TTFA or the accusations levelled by Wallace and Look Loy.
Although Look Loy distanced himself from Miller, there is no question that the businessman played a role in the electoral campaign of Wallace’s United TTFA slate.
In documentation between Lavender Consultants and the Arima Borough, Miller signed under the title of ‘TTFA marketing director’. Wallace confirmed that the TTFA board never hired a marketing director.
“We did discuss outsourcing marketing at the board but we have not yet signed off with any individual or entity,” said Wallace. “Peter worked with us before the elections and continued work after the elections; and I am sure when the pre-elections plans started to unfold, he would have been considered and proposed to the board.”
Wallace said that any reference to Miller as a TTFA employee was an ‘error’ and suggested he was the ‘United TTFA marketing director’.
“It was originally United TTFA, so that is an error that carried over,” said the TTFA president. “The discussion [regarding] this deal started before the elections.”
Miller’s first job in Trinidad, almost 20 years ago, was at the W Connection Football Club, owned by former TTFA president David John-Williams. He then took up an executive role at the Football Company of Trinidad and Tobago (FCoTT) under Jack Warner.
In both cases, Miller is believed to have delivered considerably less than he promised. He was subsequently accused of more of the same—and much, much worse—at English clubs from Northampton and Luton Town to Port Vale.
Wired868 asked Wallace if he held any concerns about aligning the TTFA’s brand with someone of Miller’s reputation.
“This information [about fraudulent past behaviour by Miller] is news to me,” said Wallace. “Nobody has presented this info to me. If the information is credible, I will of course be concerned.”
Still, Look Loy stressed that Miller, as far as he was aware, was not a TTFA employee and only due a commission based on what business he brought to the table.
“I obviously know that he was involved in organising some of these promised sponsorships that were unveiled when the United TTFA ran its [election] campaign, like the Nike deal,” said Look Loy. “And when that fell down he played a part in the Avec Sport contract. He never held a TTFA post but he might have been doing marketing work.
“My position to the board was that we should outsource [marketing and sales] to more than one entity on a commission basis, so if you bring a dollar you get 10 cents…”
For Wallace, the TTFA presidency has been a baptism of fire and it is left to be seen if he will get a chance to see it through.
Crucially, on the field of play, the only national team to play thus far—the Women’s National Under-20 Team—were quarterfinalists at the February Concacaf Championship. And appointments of popular local-based coaches like Terry Fenwick, Angus Eve and Derek King were warmly received by football fans.
But much of that bonhomie seems to have already deserted the football body.
“Since this normalisation committee occurred, there are so many people coming out of the woodwork to comment,” said Wallace, “and there is a narrative in certain media houses and you can see people taking sides. The truth doesn’t seem to matter in Trinidad and Tobago anymore.”
Incidentally, Wallace is still president of the SSFL. He was elected to the helm of the TTFA near the end of the SSFL’s 2019 season and decided to wait until the school body’s AGM in April 2020 to formally give his farewell speech. Former San Juan North Secondary principal Phillip Fraser has acted as SSFL president in the interim.
“Our [SSFL] AGM was supposed to be in early April and I was planning at that point in time to resign,” said Wallace. “Based on the situation now, I won’t be in a hurry to do that. I still have another year in my two year term [as SSFL president], so I will hold on that to see how things develops.”
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Collective head-scratching as Fifa lists Corneal, De Four and Caesar as employees.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Who returned Anton Corneal, Stephan De Four and Wayne Caesar to their former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) portfolios?
At present, the Fifa website lists the aforementioned men as technical director, Women’s National Senior Team head coach and referee’s department head respectively. However, none of those appointments were made by the TTFA board and at least two of those roles were already filled.
The board hired Dion La Foucade as its technical director on 15 January while Boni Bishop was selected to head the referee’s department last month. They replaced Corneal and Caesar respectively—Corneal left the football body on 31 July 2019, after his contract was not renewed by then football president David John-Williams.
The top Women Soca Warriors coaching post was vacant, as the William Wallace-led administration sacked De Four on 14 December 2019 but had not named his replacement, with American Randy Waldrum believed to be their first choice.
At present, the TTFA is splintered due to a Fifa decision on 17 March 2020 to implement a normalisation committee in the twin island republic. It means that although Wallace remains the elected leader of the local football body, Fifa is recognising Robert Hadad as its man of business here.
Neither Wallace nor Hadad claim to know anything about the recent ‘appointments’, which showed up this weekend on the Fifa website.
“That is news to me—I haven’t seen that,” Hadad told Wired868. “Everyone was told that everything must remain as it is until we hear from Fifa. So we are moving in a holding pattern.”
Hadad said he will field a call from Fifa tomorrow, although he is not sure who he will speak to, since the governing body apparently assigned a few persons to ‘guide’ its normalisation committee on different things. He will ask for clarification on the inclusions of Corneal, De Four and Caesar.
The Hadco co-CEO and Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) member said he is anxious to meet the TTFA staff as soon as the government advises that it is safe for ‘non-essential’ companies to reopen, which could be as early as 16 April.
He hopes to access subvention money from Fifa, which was withheld from Wallace, to pay outstanding salaries to employees and technical staff members.
“For now, I am just looking at numbers and figures and the size of the debt, and trying to work out a strategy in terms of how we approach it,” said Hadad. “But I really want to meet the staff before I say more to the media.”
Corneal, for his part, said he was just as surprised and confused as everyone else.
“I know nothing about that [re-appointment] so I think it is false news,” he said. “Nothing was said to me.”
Wired868 confirmed that, generally, Fifa updates its member association information based on particulars sent directly by the general secretary or media officer of the respective football body, or through the latter’s website.
The TTFA’s website continues to list Wallace and his slate as its leaders with La Foucade and Terry Fenwick as technical director and Men’s National Senior Team head coach respectively.
Media manager Shaun Fuentes denied giving Fifa any ‘new’ information about the positions in question. General secretary Ramesh Ramdhan could not be reached by phone, although, based on Hadad’s position, it is unlikely that he would have done so.
Since Fifa lists Hadad as president and Judy Daniel—incorrectly added as ‘Daniel Judy’—as vice-president, it is certain that the Gianni Infantino-headed body has updated the TTFA’s page.
Time will tell whether the aforementioned additions of Corneal, De Four and Caesar were clerical errors or something more meaningful.
Fifa, in consultation with Concacaf, ‘reserves the right to revoke the mandate of any of the members of the TTFA normalisation committee and/or to appoint further members at any time’.
As such, Hadad and company can be ordered to follow the dictates of Fifa on most matters. But it is worth noting too that, according to the TTFA constitution, only the local football body’s board of directors can hire or fire employees.
Wallace and his vice-presidents, Clynt Taylor, Sharon Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, have vowed to challenge Fifa’s decision to implement a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). They have until 8 April to do so.
Fifa did not respond to a request for clarification on its website entry, up until the time of publication.
(https://static.wired868.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/fifa-ttfa-website.jpeg)
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The abnormal normalisation clause: how seven Fifa ‘gentlemen’ usurped 210 nations in war on the TTFA.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic, which was unprecedented for a coronavirus. By then, Italy’s Serie A had already been halted by the government with multiple sporting competitions set to follow.
The Bureau of the Fifa Council promptly rescheduled an upcoming Fifa Council meeting from Friday 20 March to a ‘date yet to be confirmed in June-July 2020 at the Home of Fifa in Zurich or via video conference’.
But while Fifa president Gianni Infantino was happy to delay the core business of the world governing body, the affairs of Trinidad and Tobago—a country with a population of 1.4 million, which has not qualified for a Fifa competition in 11 years—appeared to be far too pressing.
So, on Tuesday 17 March, Infantino’s Bureau of the Fifa Council convened and ‘decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa Statutes’.
A day later, the same body held a second meeting.
“The Bureau of the Fifa Council chaired by Fifa president Gianni Infantino convened by conference call today,” Fifa stated on 18 March, “to address the exceptional circumstances created by the Covid-19 virus outbreak …”
TTFA president William Wallace, a former school teacher in his third month on the job, weighed heavier on the minds of Infantino and his inner circle than a global pandemic, wreaking havoc on healthcare systems, economies and, not least, sporting competitions?
Two weeks later, Trinidad and Tobago has the ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘how’ of Fifa’s shock decision, while the ‘why’ remains a source of speculation. However, in a battle that seems to hinge on personalities, the ‘who’ might also be worth closer examination.
Fifa’s Council, which comprises of Infantino and 37 members elected from the various associations, is the equivalent of its board of directors. (Interestingly, Uefa is allowed three vice-presidents and six ordinary members, while other confederations get a single vice-presidential spot and between two to six ordinary members each.)
According to article 34 of the Fifa’s statutes, the Council ‘defines Fifa’s mission, strategic direction, policies and values—in particular with regard to the organisation and development of football at worldwide level and all related matters’ and ‘oversees the overall management of Fifa by the general secretariat’.
Article 11 states that only the Congress, an annual meeting of all 210 member associations, shall ‘decide whether to admit, suspend or expel a member association solely upon the recommendation of the Council’.
And decisions of the Congress, according to article 32, ‘come into effect for the member associations 60 days after the close of the Congress, unless the Congress fixes another date for a decision to take effect’.
Yet, Fifa has a separate committee, the seven-member Bureau of the Fifa Council headed by the president, with sweeping powers, whose decisions, according to article 38, ‘take immediate legal effect’. Decisions of the Bureau, like the call to implement a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago, still need to be ratified by the Council at its next meeting in three or four months’ time.
But by then, if things follow their usual course, Wallace would have already resigned his post. Fifa, you see, cannot legally remove the president of a member association. The TTFA’s constitution states that only its members can do so, via three quarter of the valid votes at its general meeting.
However, what Fifa’s Bureau can do is enter sovereign jurisdictions and essentially create a second ‘shadow’ leader. And then, the Infantino-led body steps back and waits for the psychological pressure of its disapproval and the potential threat of suspension—a decision that does not rest with the Bureau—to coerce the targeted football president into falling on his or her own sword.
“Can the head of the normalisation committee go to the TTFA’s bank, produce the appointment letter from Fifa and withdraw money?” asked TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle.
So much for the legality of Fifa’s appointment of Robert Hadad, as the de facto head of Trinidad and Tobago football for the next two years.
Fifa offered to help the TTFA straighten out its constitution; maybe it should look at the beam in its own eye. By its actions, the Bureau is effectively wielding power over member associations that the Fifa statutes suggest should belong only to its Congress.
Article 8.2 states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time’.
And article 38.2 states: ‘The Bureau of the Council shall deal with all matters within the competence of the Council requiring immediate decision between two meetings of the Council’.
Two clauses that allow a decision meant to be overseen by 210 nations with a 60 day waiting period, to instead be made by seven persons—or, potentially, four—with immediate effect.
Before we look at the Bureau members whose identities were hidden behind the Fifa letterhead, it is worth revisiting the stated justification for intervention in the twin island republic:
‘The recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago […] found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.
‘Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.’
Much can be said about the fact that, over the last four years, Infantino, Mosengo-Omba and a host of mid-level Fifa and Concacaf officials held over a dozen meetings and symposiums in Trinidad, funded the football body, and approved its financial books annually without, apparently, discovering the ‘extremely low overall financial management methods’ that existed.
Or that Fifa then appointed finance manager Tyril Patrick, the person who oversaw the financial shambles, to run the local body.
It is not only former TTFA presidents—John-Williams and the late Raymond Tim Kee and Oliver Camps—who should be made to account for the Bureau’s charge; but also Fifa bigwigs like Mosengo-Omba, secretary general Fatma Samoura and, ultimately, Infantino himself.
Under what logic should Wallace, just three months into the job, be penalised for the mess that ‘DJW’ and Infantino left him.
“We commissioned an audit into [the TTFA’s internal structure] by our finance people and they provided a report which we [gave] to [Fifa],” said Wallace, who immediately targeted the body’s financial structure. “Fifa didn’t come in and discover that—we gave it to them and their response was that this is 50 percent of their job done.
“We went into an organisation with a total absence of financial structure and were working on developing one.”
Since Fifa never released the annual US$1.2 million (TT$8 million) Forward Programme money that the TTFA is entitled to, Wallace turned to good samaritans like Kendall Tull, a consultant with decades of financial management and audit experience, who agreed to help spearhead the necessary reform for free.
Tull, who sat in on meetings with the Fifa/Concacaf mission in February, was dumbfounded by the Bureau’s subsequent claims.
“One of the things that was said by the Concacaf representation, Alejandro [Kesende], was it is the first time he has ever come [to Trinidad] and someone spoke his language in relation to the financial issues facing the organisation,” said Tull, “and in terms of the lack of internal controls and other issues that have been plaguing the organisation. They literally said that the report we gave to them that outlined what we found and had recommendations about how we would proceed going forward made their jobs a whole lot easier.
“They recognised that the new administration understood what the circumstances were and were taking steps to address them. All of that was actually said.
“So you would not have thought on the basis of what they said—we are not debating whether what they said [about the weakness of the TTFA’s structure] is untrue—but to suggest we were not addressing it as a matter of urgency and priority is a misrepresentation. That absolutely is not the case.”
Now is as good a time as any to look beyond the ‘Fifa letterhead’ at the seven men who comprise the Fifa Bureau.
Fifa did not respond to Wired868’s request for the names of the persons who made the infamous decision on 17 March. But we know the president of each confederation is entitled to sit in at Bureau meetings.
Those are: Victor Montagliani (Concacaf), Alejandro Dominguez (Conmebol), Aleksander Ceferin (Uefa), Lambert Maltock (Oceania), Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa (Asia) and Ahmad Ahmad (Africa).
Dominguez, a 48 year old businessman, had a meteoric rise to the role of Fifa vice-president. He served for just three years as Paraguay football president before he was promoted to president of the entire South American confederation and given a Fifa VP jacket.
“I saw the opportunity,” Dominguez told the media. “I didn’t see the crisis.”
The ‘opportunity’ that allowed his rapid ascension was US Department of Justice investigations that led to charges against three successive Conmebol presidents—Nicolás Leoz, Eugenio Figueredo and Juan Ángel Napout, the latter described by one publication as Dominguez’s ‘close friend’—within the space of three years.
Dominguez potentially stood in judgment of Wallace’s administration, two weeks ago.
Then there is the 63-year-old Maltock, who is in his third term as Oceania president and has been at the helm of the Vanuatu Football Federation since 2008. Vanuatu are ranked 163rd in the world and less is known about Maltock than his tiny homeland of 272,000 people.
Ceferin, a 52 year old Slovenian sport attorney by profession, has made a name for himself as European president by standing up for his confederation’s smaller clubs and associations.
Did he vote to implement a normalisation committee in Trinidad too? That would be interesting, since the TTFA’s debt is TT$50 million or just under €7 million. At present, the Football Association of Ireland, which continues to run its own affairs, is €55 million (TT$407 million) in debt.
Ceferin—or any Eufa proxy who might have represented him—should have some explaining to do.
Wallace would not want to harass the 54-year-old Asian Football Confederation president Al Khalifa, who is a member of the House of Khalifa which is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Campaign groups like Human Rights Watch, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy accused Al Khalifa of heading a committee that identified athletes—including international Bahraini footballers—involved in pro-democracy demonstrations during the ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011, many of whom were later imprisoned.
The Bahraini administrator’s allegedly macabre duties for the House of Khalifa lack the flair of his counterpart from the Africa Football Confederation.
Like Al Khalifa, the 60-year-old Ahmad simultaneously holds sporting and political office. He is senator in Madagascar while also heading the Malagasy Football Federation and running African football. (Meanwhile Wallace vowed not to attempt to serve as Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president and TTFA boss at the same time.)
Despite those three massive portfolios, Ahmad, according to former Caf general secretary Amr Fahmy, found time to sexually harass staff and siphon off money from the African football body. The president, naturally, denies the accusation.
Last June, Ahmad was arrested by French authorities but subsequently released without charge as part of ‘a probe into corruption, breach of trust and forgery’.
But Ahmad’s most memorable alleged indiscretion came during the Russia 2018 World Cup. He billed Caf for US$18,450 in daily allowances for a 41-day stay in the host nation between 7 June and 17 July. But, between 23 June and 1 July, he also trousered another US$4,050 for a trip to Cairo under the heading of ‘Visit to Caf Bureau’.
He was simultaneously collecting money for being in Egypt and Russia at the same time. So where was he? According to BBC, documents suggest that Ahmad was actually back in Madagascar for at least four of those days.
Fifa did not confirm whether the 60-year-old Ahmad was on the conference call that made a damning judgment on the state of the TTFA’s finances. But clearly he can be a hard man to pin down.
And then there is Montagliani, the 54-year-old Canadian who holds the distinction of being the first Concacaf president from outside of the Caribbean since 1991—a job that relies in large part on a splintered relationship between the islands.
Montagliani and John-Williams share the dodgy distinction of both showing popular Canada-based Trinidadian coach Stephen Hart to the door. Both enjoyed similar ‘benefits’ from it.
Montagliani was Canada football president for barely five months when Hart’s push towards the Concacaf Hex ended with a catastrophic 8-1 loss away to Honduras. He accepted the coach’s resignation and Canada subsequently plummeted to its lowest ever Fifa ranking of 122.
The Canadian football team was 75th in the world when he took over; and, by the time he was promoted to Concacaf president, it was 109th.
Presumably, Montagliani would see himself as capable of ‘advising’ the TTFA about the necessary steps towards regaining its former glory.
The Concacaf president got uncomfortably close to TTFA politics in recent times.
Just weeks before last November’s election in Couva, Montagliani solicited a letter from Nike North America Sports Marketing Senior Counsel, Zoe Brathwaite, which raised questions about a campaign promise made by Wallace. The Canadian forwarded the letter to John-Williams and it surfaced just two days before the TTFA’s AGM.
“I had a [Concacaf] meeting in December and I asked the president of Concacaf [Victor Montagliani] about the letter,” said Wallace, in a previous interview, “and he explained to me that he was asked by the Trinidad FA to look into arrangement of the Nike deal.
“And in talking to Nike, [Concacaf] indicated that, since Nike was a sponsor of Concacaf, if they supported [Wallace’s slate] they would be supporting an entity that was running against one of the Concacaf members—which was Trinidad and Tobago—and it would look like interference in an election. And Nike stepped back.”
Could Montagliani’s act be viewed as interference in a local election? And, if so, should he now be involved in effectively nullifying that electoral result?
Article 38.5 of the Fifa statutes states: ‘The President is entitled to designate a deputy for any member who is unable to attend or has a conflict of interest. The deputy shall belong to the Council and the same confederation as the member who is unable to attend or has a conflict of interest’.
Wired868 asked Concacaf whether Montagliani represented the confederation at the Bureau meeting of 17 March. Up until the time of publication, there was no response.
Might Infantino also be deemed to be ‘conflicted’?
Six days before the TTFA election, the Fifa president showed up in Couva to open the Home of Football and referred to John-Williams as his ‘teammate’ in a speech to football stakeholders and journalists:
“I came to Trinidad and Tobago, and I was not believing to find somebody like [David John-Williams] in Trinidad and Tobago. I have to say the truth. Because the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association was more or less in the same state as Fifa at that time. David was saying ‘shambles’, I say shambles was maybe a compliment for the state you found.
“We found a Federation which was under the earth. TTFA, Trinidad and Tobago Football, very sadly, was in the headlines for other reasons than football, even though linked to football. Today, we are here, and proud to be here, because today, Trinidad and Tobago is the capital of the world of football.”
In truth, when John-Williams was elected president in November 2015, he met a body that was:
(Finances) $16 million in debt;
(Men’s) Ranked 49th in the world and successive Gold Cup quarterfinalists;
(Women’s) Missed the 2014 Women World Cup by the slenderest margin after a 1-0 two-legged aggregate loss to Ecuador in a Fifa Play Off.
At the time that Infantino lavished praise on DJW, the TTFA was:
(Finances) TT$50 million in debt;
(Men’s) Ranked 104th in the world and had just set all-time records for longest losing streak, win-less streak and run of games without scoring;
(Women’s) Failed to even qualify for Concacaf round of the 2020 Olympic qualifying series, after being embarrassed 4-1 at home to St Kitts and Nevis.
The TTFA’s membership was not swayed by Infantino’s praise and, in front of Fifa and Concacaf observers, voted 26-20 to replace John-Williams with Wallace.
On Wallace’s first working day, the Home of Football was declared closed, since it lacked proper insurance and clearances and was deemed unsafe for use.
Further, TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan said the local football body planned to investigate spending at the Fifa project—which had at least TT$16 million unaccounted for—and would publicise its findings, even if Fifa officials like Mosengo-Omba were named.
How, then, could Infantino sit dispassionately in judgment of Wallace’s administration?
Thus far, Wallace has declared his intention to appeal the Fifa decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Victory would be unprecedented. But perhaps a legal battle would reveal as much about the flaws in Fifa as it does the TTFA.
And, more relevantly, it would turn the spotlight on seven men who wielded the authority of 210 member associations—and the controversial, wide-ranging clause that allowed it.
Editor’s Note: A US-based group called Supporters of United TTFA has opened a Go Fund Me account to help finance the football body’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Click HERE for more information.
TTFA president William Wallace has vowed to ‘oppose Fifa’s injustice at the Court of Arbitration for Sport’. Click HERE for more information. (https://www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet)
Video - TTFA v FIFA: Wired868's Lasana Liburd talks to TV6 Morning Edition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=775PSAcNOqE&feature=emb_title)
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In truth, when John-Williams was elected president in November 2015, he met a body that was:
(Finances) $16 million in debt;
(Men’s) Ranked 49th in the world and successive Gold Cup quarterfinalists;
(Women’s) Missed the 2014 Women World Cup by the slenderest margin after a 1-0 two-legged aggregate loss to Ecuador in a Fifa Play Off.
At the time that Infantino lavished praise on DJW, the TTFA was:
(Finances) TT$50 million in debt;
(Men’s) Ranked 104th in the world and had just set all-time records for longest losing streak, win-less streak and run of games without scoring;
(Women’s) Failed to even qualify for Concacaf round of the 2020 Olympic qualifying series, after being embarrassed 4-1 at home to St Kitts and Nevis.
The TTFA’s membership was not swayed by Infantino’s praise and, in front of Fifa and Concacaf observers, voted 26-20 to replace John-Williams with Wallace.
On Wallace’s first working day, the Home of Football was declared closed, since it lacked proper insurance and clearances and was deemed unsafe for use.
Further, TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan said the local football body planned to investigate spending at the Fifa project—which had at least TT$16 million unaccounted for—and would publicise its findings, even if Fifa officials like Mosengo-Omba were named.
How, then, could Infantino sit dispassionately in judgment of Wallace’s administration?
Very interesting !!!!
Lasana is a boss writer.
Good job.
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Would love to get those Lasana pieces in a UK tabloid. It will probably garner more interest and support than in this region.
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Wallace's team picks Hovell for FIFA dispute.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle, the lawyers representing the ousted executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), have proposed that Mark Hovell the highly experienced sports lawyer from Manchester, England, be the sole arbitrator in their case against football’s world governing body FIFA.
Hovell is a highly experienced sports lawyer and insolvency practitioner who specialises in regulatory, governance, commercial and financial matters, across all sports, both in the UK and across the world.
Additionally, he sits regularly as an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland and The FA’s regulatory commissions.
FIFA has until April 14 to submit their comments regarding the request – whether they agree to a sole arbitrator deciding matters and Hovell’s appointment.
CAS appeals cost about $20,000 with the appellant’s legal costs generally doubling that amount. The filed appeal by former president Wallace and his three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph 'Sam' Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, requests a sole arbitrator that, depending on the case, would reduce fees to $10,000 and expedite the process. Currently, the appellants have paid the first CHF 1,000 to file the appeal, quite where they will get the rest required to proceed is unclear.
In a video statement on Wednesday on their crowdsourcing ‘gofundme’ page, Wallace maintains that he is still in charge of the TTFA, saying: “To be clear I remain president of TTFA based on our constitution… I can only be removed by the operation of the TTFA’s constitution, not by FIFA.”
However, Wallace and his team have raised part of the money fund via the fundraising page showed no movement from Wednesday's total contribution which was at $3,155 up to press time and it was at the same amount up to press time again yesterday. The last contribution of US$50 was made on Monday. The target by Wallace's team is TT$300,000 to $500,000 or the estimated US$25,000 for the CAS appeal.
One of those that have donated is Keith Look Loy, the TTFA’s former technical committee chair under the Wallace administration, who paid in $200. Look Loy is the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Super League, who has said that the league’s clubs have agreed on a donation of $2,000.
A supporter Elvin Edwards has made the single biggest contribution of US$1,000 with Wallace contributing teh second largest amount of US$500.
On March 17, FIFA wrote to the TTFA advising them that they were appointing a normalisation committee to take over the running of the heavily indebted association. However, despite protests from the executive because such a move would be in breach of the TTFA constitution, FIFA proceeded to name members of the committee on March 26.
The action prompted the attorneys to file an appeal to set aside FIFA’s decision before the CAS on Monday, April 6.
On Wednesday, CAS acknowledged receipt of the appeal and issued a case number CAS2020/A/6915.
Wallace and his team also pointed to the Court that: Due to the implications of this matter, and the importance of football to Trinidad and Tobago (and the wider Caribbean region generally), the Appellants request a hearing of this appeal on an expedited basis.
a. To the extent that the CAS’ Emergency Guidelines are not extended and to the extent that the ban on international flights entering Trinidad and Tobago is lifted on/by June 1, 2020, the Appellants ask that the matter be heard in-person in Trinidad & Tobago at the earliest point thereafter. Indeed, as the Appellants and most (if not all) of the relevant witnesses, all reside within Trinidad & Tobago, the balance of convenience tips in favour of that location in our respectful view.
b. In the alternative, and if the CAS’ Emergency Guidelines and the current ban on flights entering Trinidad & Tobago are both extended beyond June 1st, 2020, the Appellants respectfully request that the matter be heard by video-conferencing means.
c. Nonetheless, whether through video-conferencing or in-person, the Appellants ask that the hearing be open to the public.
The lawyers now have until April 17, 10 days from when the appeal was due to be filed, which was Tuesday, April 7. Should they fail to do so. CAS will deem the appeal withdrawn.
FIFA then has 20 days to respond to the filed brief. They would be expected to do so by early May.
CAS has also invited the TTFA lawyers to consider the possibility of mediation.
According to a Sportsmax Antonio De Quesada, Head of Arbitration at CAS stated: “I take this opportunity to draw the Parties’ attention to the possibility of submitting this dispute to CAS mediation, which would not prejudice the Parties’ rights to subsequently re-submit the dispute to arbitration, should the dispute remain unresolved at the conclusion of the mediation procedure. A successful mediation procedure would result in a binding settlement, the terms of which have been agreed upon by both Parties.”
To make a contribution - CLICK HERE. (https://www.gofundme.com/f/TTFA-Fights-FIFA-Intervention?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet)
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Given the way how FIFA conducted themselves with the previous admin,especially the support of a grown debt - 16 M to 50 M without any intense investigation and their current unfair removal of the present TTFA admin. I don't think mediation with a positive result is possible. To many crooks in that kitchen, historically and currently. Now, the question is, can little we remove them given our real and present debt situation ? Very unlikely. So besides reinstatement of the elected body. What else should we demand, if any ?
I think they should totally fund the completion of the Hotel/Dorm, as well as launch their own internal investigation into the reasons whereby the prev. admin had a debt of 34 M and whoever played a part in that accumulation, through their NC reps. In a published report, advising the current admin how to proceed with and their(Fifa) help to eradicating that debt.
With normal annual contributions (not asking for no more than any other admin), leave the current TTFA to handle any future admin, and financial dealings going forward. The NC can also monitor the debt growth of the current admin for the next 24 months .
Is that asking to much ?
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Kudos to TTFA president for standing up to FIFA
T&T Express
Kudos must go out to Mr William Wallace, current elected president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), for standing his ground with the imposition from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
Mr Wallace is right in pointing out to the international body that indeed he and his other executive members were elected by due democratic process and was, and still is, the choice of people who have a vested interest in football in Trinidad and Tobago.
The scenario posited by opposition to the newly elected executive as concerned the closing down of the football centre in Couva and financial issues which the governing body is now faced with, just does not come into the equation.
The TTFA president's comment that the centre is just not ready for occupation is good enough to put on hold.
We must remember that the centre was opened just prior to the TTFA's election last year and questions have been raised as to the urgency.
Also, the financial difficulties which the association finds itself embroiled in could not have been the fault of the present executive but that of its predecessors.
It just has not been in power long enough to be blamed.
This large sum of money owed to personnel and institutions is certainly the mismanagement and/or negligence of past administrations.
Local sports in T&T has had its fair share of international interference in the past.
From our cricketers being blamed for "illegal arm action" just when their talents begin to flourish to bans on athletes for doping without the input of local administration.
It is refreshing to know that at least one "elected" individual in a democratically elected executive in at least one sporting discipline is asking that there be less interference on the execution of their responsibilities and duties.
The unusual appointment of the "normalization committee" sounds very suspicious and deleterious.
If a democratically elected body is to do what it was put there to do, it needs its independence with little or no outside interference. This intervention reeks of political interference.
WKS Hosein
Chaguanas
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Former Arima mayor Elvin Edwards does not like treatment of TTFA
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
TWO-TIME former Arima mayor Elvin Hubert Edwards is backing the embattled Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) executive and has generously given to its cause against the world governing body.
A gofundme account was set up last month with the goal of raising US$25,000 to fight FIFA’S installation of a normalisation committee to run football in T&T in place of the elected William Wallace administration which took up office just four months ago. Earlier this week, the fund had crossed the US$3,000 mark.
The former TTFA executive also formally launched an appeal to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which was also registered this week.
Former mayor Edwards has contributed one third of the money pledged so far. Of 28 contributors, the three pledging the most are Edwards and two of the parties actively involved in the matter - Wallace and Keith Look Loy. Wallace pledged US$500, while TTFA technical committee chairman Look Loy donated US$200 of his own funds. Edwards, who will be 70 on April 28, pledged US$1,000 to the cause, by far the greatest contribution.
Edwards admitted being a supporter of 2019 Trinidad & Tobago Super League champions FC Santa Rosa, owned by Super League president Look Loy.
“And not only Santa Rosa, but many other clubs, “ Edwards said. “People ask me for donations all the time, churches, and other organisations. Maybe I'm a little too generous at times, but I know why I do these things.”
Edwards’ latest motivation is his displeasure at how FIFA had treated the local association. FIFA listed as one of its reasons as protecting its development investment in Trinidad and Tobago from litigation owing to over US $7 million debt by the TTFA to creditors. FIFA funded the TTFA’s US$2.5m Home of Football, opened just a few months ago.
“I personally think the TTFA has been treated very badly by the manner in which it was done,” Edwards told the Express. “So I wanted to make a contribution towards fighting it.”
He added: “I saw something on Whatsapp asking for donations towards the plight of the TTFA and I supported it.”
Edwards served as Mayor of Arima for seven years and two terms between July 1996 – June 2003 before receiving a diplomatic posting in Canada from December 2003 – August 2010.
He attended Arima Boys’ Roman Catholic School, Arima Boys’ Government School and Holy Cross College. After going to university in Canada, he worked at a Canadian university and on his return to T&T, as an IT specialist at Royal Bank.
An avid sportsman, he played windball cricket and fete match football with Parkstars in Arima and represented Fulham Sports Club at age 17 in cricket and football. He was also invited to national trials in 1968 for both the Trinidad and Tobago senior cricket and football teams and represented T&T’s Under 25 cricket team against an Australian Under-19 team at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre in January, 1970.
Past involvement in sport was a reason Edwards was sympathetic to the TTFA’s plight.
“Anybody having sports event to help the youths with and anything I think is worth it, I try to support however I can,” said the former Arima livewire, who has now retired from politics.
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When will Trinidad and Tobago's football rise from this mess?
By Lance Whittaker (digicelsportsmax.com)
FIFA’s latest football rankings published this week listed the Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad and Tobago at 105th in the world, their second-lowest in history.
A Normalization Committee appointed by FIFA is charged with sorting out dire financial and administrative affairs of the TT Football Association (TTFA) but will the virus that has seen the regional giants plummet to their lowest levels all-time be tackled as well in this process?
The eight-time Caribbean Football Union (CFU) champions have now spent a 10th consecutive month outside the world’s top-100.
The last time T&T’s Soca Warriors were the top-rated Caribbean team on the FIFA Coca-Cola Rankings was October 2016. From 65th in the world three and a half years ago, they have steadily plunged to embarrassing levels, not good enough for a football programme that had long been regarded as the best in the Caribbean.
Absorbed in a political football power war in the past year that included acrimonious election campaigning and subsequent unseating of David John-Williams (DJW) as President, T&T’s football results have been ghastly.
The Coronavirus has dismantled all sporting schedules globally and maybe it’s a good thing for T&T’s football since the inactivity may have eased their fans from some more painful match results.
Former England international and 1986 World Cup defender Terry Fenwick is the new head coach, replacing Dennis Lawrence and the straight-talking ex-defender’s job is likely to be negatively impacted by the current administrative turmoil.
Indeed, there are already media reports of heated exchanges Fenwick has had with the Technical team over dissatisfaction with efforts to sort out passports for foreign-born players being targeted for T&T representation.
T&T’s football fraternity is divided over FIFA’s intervention that sidelined last November’s elected executive, whose attorneys Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne have now gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in an effort to annul FIFA’s intervention.
FIFA’s track record globally clearly indicates they are powerful enough and have the right to intervene in any of its 211 affiliates’ administrative affairs if they are deemed not to be following the FIFA Statutes -- rules and regulations – that they themselves have signed to.
Opponents of the FIFA intervention in T&T reason that it was indecently done, given the fact the new executive had only been in place for three months, trying to tackle massive financial problems that were largely inherited.
The fact that serious financial problems existed when John-Williams was boss and FIFA did not intervene, begs the question why didn’t they at the time? The answer is fairly obvious. John-Williams has a good relationship with the FIFA President Gianni Infantino and profited from FIFA’s support and understanding.
Days ahead of the November 24, 2019 TTFA elections, Infantino attended the glitzy opening of John-Williams’s biggest project, the “Home of Football” in Couva and he praised DJW as a leader displaying “wisdom and vision” with the project the FIFA President said represented “an investment in the future”.
Unruffled that T&T were just coming off setting all-time records for longest losing streak, winless streak and run of games without scoring, Infantino downplayed results in a SportsMax interview with George Davis, declaring firmly that when there is a heavy investment in stability with an eye for future development it was wrong to make a “sporting result (loss)” become a “tragedy” or a “catastrophe”.
Asserting obvious support for DJW’s team ahead of the TTFA Elections, Infantino defended the Home of Football investment as a building tool for the country’s football. “You need to build, you need to be stable … and that’s exactly what has been done and then the results will come because of the seriousness of the investment. We have now a solid foundation in this so that football can grow and be built and I am sure this will happen in the future with John-Williams,” Infantino said.
Infantino’s “future with John-Williams” narrative was ruined by DJW’s 26-20 loss to William Wallace’s men at the TTFA polls and I suspect that as far as FIFA is concerned, the wrong men are in charge.
A FIFA/CONCACAF audited study of the TTFA’s Finances in February apparently triggered the move to step in and remove the elected officials even though General Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan had reported to local media then that the mission was favourable and that FIFA were on their side.
Leadership of major sporting organisations has long been about politics and power and football presidency at the global and confederation levels perfectly illustrate this.
I attended a few Caribbean Football Union (CFU) congress sessions that were open to the media during Jack Warner’s reign and saw the God-like sway he held over his subjects as a FIFA Vice-President and the CONCACAF Chief.
With that power, also came freedom to make unobstructed decisions, especially in a FIFA culture fashioned by Joao Havelange that while financially flourishing always had integrity question marks.
Brazilian Havelange, widely considered Warner’s mentor, enjoyed a 24-year reign -- before Sepp Blatter took over in 1998 – that boasted exponential football growth while never entertaining opposition. History shows you don’t fight FIFA and win so the odds are heavily against the relegated TTFA executive challenging this move by FIFA.
In the meantime, T&T’s football fans deserve more from their national team. Their October 2010 ranking of 106th in a brief sojourn outside FIFA’s top-100 almost 10 years ago, is the only ever weaker ranking position than they have now. Heading for a whole year outside FIFA’s top-100 as they are now, is unheard of in T&T’s glamorous football history.
How and when will the turnaround happen? Fenwick did not make it as a manager in his native England, but has had success in T&T, copping Pro League titles with Central FC (twice) and San Juan Jabloteh. He knows the T&T landscape well enough but appears short on the kind of talent that has propelled T&T’s International programme in the past.
Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano along with the yet-to-be-named others on a five-member panel will have a tough job resuscitating T&T’s football, especially in this contentious climate fraught with bitterness and legal dispute.
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Yorke: FIFA made the right move
T&T Guardian
T&T’s most famous footballer, based on his international record and appeal, Dwight Yorke, gave a rare interview to host Andre Errol Baptiste on Isports on i95.5fm Programme on Saturday.
The former Manchester United and T&T’s football captain at this country’s only World Cup appearance in 2006 (Germany), is currently in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has been paying close attention to all that has been unfolding in local football including when FIFA announced on March 17 that it was appointing a normalization committee to run the affairs of T&T’s football, effectively replacing elected president William Wallace and his three vice presidents.
On March 27, FIFA named businessman Robert Hadad as chairman, attorney Judy Daniel as vice-chairman and retired banker Nigel Romano, as a member, with two more individuals to be appointed at a later date, to replace the ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive, that was duly elected in November 2019 with William Wallace as president and including Joseph "Sam" Phillip, Susan Joseph-Warwick and Clynt Taylor as vice-presidents, who through their attorneys have lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland on April 7.
"When it comes to football, things have to change. We have tried all aspects of it before. We know how successful we have been in 2006. I think football has been in decline for a number of years," said Yorke during the interview. "I think this is the right move and we all have to get back and focus and maybe think about the youth."
Yorke's support comes on the back of previous support for FIFA's action by the T&T Pro League, the Central Zone president Shymdeo Gosine and several local coaches and administrators of the local sport.
"The youths are the future of the football and I call on all the footballers out there who are aspiring to represent their country to continue to work hard because it is the only way forward and they must have that belief and hopefully, our country will one day find its way back on the world stage again,” said Yorke, re-emphasizing his desire to be involved in T&T’s football.
"I have always been (interested), I have never shied away from that I have always wanted to play an intricate part in whatever way it's possible. I can help the young people of T&T as I have said before. I have a lot of knowledge and experience over the years and I feel that I can contribute a lot to T&T’s football hopefully."
Yorke, a former national captain admits that he too is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Dubai, which has also locked down all citizens and visitors alike to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus in that country.
"It's been challenging like for everyone else out there. I'm lucky enough I'm based in Dubai at the moment so we been on lockdown for roughly three weeks and they're strict so we are one of the lowest in terms of the effect of the virus at the moment. I'm blessed that I'm in such a strict place that tries to keep this pandemic that is happening around the world under control.
"I know that we are a country that likes to enjoy ourselves, we like to be sociable with one another interacting that way and nothing is wrong with it but I'm calling on all my fellow Trinidadians and Tobagonians to make sure that they take care of themselves and follow the guidelines that are required. It's well publicised and the PM has put out his statement, to stay at home, social distance, wash your hands.
"I know the face mask is not something that has been broadcasted but if you look at the news now the face mask is probably the most important thing and I know its difficult to get hold of the face mask but when you go out, make sure to wear the face mask. It does save lives and that's what's matters most so its important that my people back home take this very very serious and make sure and have consideration for others not just for themselves but for the elders for the weak,” said Yorke, who scored 66 goals for Manchester United.
He admits that he has not reflected much on his career but knows that he has done well in terms of his playing career.
" I can vaguely remember some of the goals that I've scored but, having said that, I think my first year was just incredible. The way how it panned out and how it worked out. You know scoring 29 goals that particular season and doing everything else winning the 'Play of the Year', you couldn't ask for a better year.
"I feel that within that year I had some of my best goals, the important goals for United and even though it wasn’t a classic, the first time I played Liverpool at home in the FA Cup that was the one that really stood out. It's not a classic goal by any means but I saw the passion and the rivalry between Man United and Liverpool for the years, what it meant to the fans and to have scored that equalizer. You could feel the whole roof lift off that day when we equalized and obviously went on to win that game like in the dying minute of the game.
"That was the first time I really felt something unusual playing in the derby and feel what that meant and of course once we won that game. We went on to win the FA cup and went onto to win the title that particular year, so 66 goals, I mean that's pretty good and I'm sure that all of them played an important part at some point in those games,” said Yorke.
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Sorry Dwight, I respect you, but I can't agree with you.
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On November 18th, 2019, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president David John-Williams opening the country's new football stadium and complex.
The same day of the unveiling, FIFA president Gianni Infantino lauded the work of the T&T Football Association and John-Williams. John-Williams would lose his bid for re-election just 6 days later.
Now less than 6 months later, FIFA is declaring that Trinidad and Tobago's football association is not fit for purpose and has appointed a normalisation committee to run football operations in the country.
Today we look at why Infantino and FIFA made such a drastic u-turn and why might this be a dangerous precedent for football associations around the world.
Guests:
Lasana Liburd (@Lasanaliburd (https://twitter.com/lasanaliburd)) is the CEO and editor of the website wired868.com (http://wired868.com/), which is where you can find ongoing coverage of this story and other Caribbean football news
Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair (https://twitter.com/PhilippeAuclair)) is a writer and broadcaster and you can read his exclusive interview with Keith Look Loy on Josimar.com (http://josimarfootball.com/infantinos-revenge/)
PODCAST: FIFA's New Political Weapon (https://www.footballtodaypodcast.com/podcast/episode/ebcf817b/fifas-new-political-weapon)
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Sorry Dwight, I respect you, but I can't agree with you.
Sure FIFA should do a NC, but they 16 years late(see below), and since they couldn't see it necessary to do it in the last 3 admins, why do they see fit to do it now, when a open and aggressively transparent admin is determined to right the ship. Maybe, and we all guessing, maybe this admin is to transparent, and as a result, to much crooked underhand dealings would be brought to the forefront. That won't be just a stain on their organization, that might actually cause additional hemorrhaging and need of critical life support of their internal workings. The last clean up was just a changing of the crooks/guard, depending on how you look at it. Can't have a little country like TT exposing that, no country for that matter.
As usual, Dwight wrong everytime he's not on the subject of football on the field.
From Wikipedia
2006 World Cup players' bonus dispute
Following the 2006 World Cup, the national team was thrown into turmoil by a dispute between the players from the World Cup squad and the TTFF. Prior to the competition, the players had agreed to a bonus scheme with the TTFF, where the players would share 50% of the federation's income from the World Cup.
Following the competition, the TTFF declared the income and expenses of TT$18.25 million and TT$17.97 million, respectively. This left TT$282,952 in net revenue and offered each player TT$5600, whereby the players rejected the offer. Subsequently, the TTFF revised their figure to TT$950,000. The amount the Federation received during their qualification campaign prior to the 2006 World Cup. The players also rejected the revised offer and requested to see the TTFF's unaudited accounts. The Federation refused the player's request.
The sixteen players were Marvin Andrews, Chris Birchall, Atiba Charles, Ian Cox, Cornell Glen, Cyd Gray, Shaka Hislop, Kelvin Jack, Avery John, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Collin Samuel, Brent Sancho, Aurtis Whitley, Evans Wise, and Anthony Wolfe. The players claim to have been blacklisted as none had been selected to represent the national team since a friendly against Austria in November 2006. The TTFF claimed that the decision was left to the coach, Wim Rijsbergen.[3]
On 30 June 2007, the players initiated a lawsuit against the TTFF.[4] Following an August 2007 inquiry by their lawyers to the Trinidad and Tobago government under the Freedom of Information Act, it was revealed that the TTFF had understated its income by at least TT$173.5 million. This was not including a TT$32 million bonus paid by the government and television revenue from friendly matches played in Europe prior to the World Cup. As a result, the players were deprived of at least TT$6.5 million each.[5]
Following the inquiry, the TTFF immediately lifted its ban on the players, and agreed to go to arbitration in London rather than to court. On 18 May 2008, British arbitrator Ian Mill QC ruled that the Soca Warriors were entitled to 50% of the profits of the Federation obtained from 2006 World Cup qualifying, as well as friendlies prior to the World Cup. However, on 9 Jan 2009 the proceedings never progressed as the TTFF were no longer interested in arbitration hearings in London and shifted their dispute to the Port of Spain Higher Court. The TTFF argued that the change was due to lawyers representing the 16 players breached the confidentiality clause in comments made to a local newspaper and other international media houses. A hearing of the application to lift the order which prevents the Port of Spain High Court from hearing the case is expected on 16 June 2009.[6][needs update]
In February 2011 the High Court ruled that an interim payment of US$1,140,384.39 be paid to the footballers. The judge also rejected the accounting documents submitted by the TTFF.[clarification needed]
In August 2012, the Federation relocated to new offices in Woodbroke as a consequence of having its equipment seized in a court order relating to unpaid payments.[7]
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On November 18th, 2019, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president David John-Williams opening the country's new football stadium and complex.
The same day of the unveiling, FIFA president Gianni Infantino lauded the work of the T&T Football Association and John-Williams. John-Williams would lose his bid for re-election just 6 days later.
Now less than 6 months later, FIFA is declaring that Trinidad and Tobago's football association is not fit for purpose and has appointed a normalisation committee to run football operations in the country.
Today we look at why Infantino and FIFA made such a drastic u-turn and why might this be a dangerous precedent for football associations around the world.
Guests:
Lasana Liburd (@Lasanaliburd (https://twitter.com/lasanaliburd)) is the CEO and editor of the website wired868.com (http://wired868.com/), which is where you can find ongoing coverage of this story and other Caribbean football news
Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair (https://twitter.com/PhilippeAuclair)) is a writer and broadcaster and you can read his exclusive interview with Keith Look Loy on Josimar.com (http://josimarfootball.com/infantinos-revenge/)
PODCAST: FIFA's New Political Weapon (https://www.footballtodaypodcast.com/podcast/episode/ebcf817b/fifas-new-political-weapon)
With cases like Kenwyne and Joevin, where W Connection rec'd a good portion, if not most of the development fees, are the Schools (St Anthony's and Mucurapo) in line to receive development fees as well?
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Sorry Dwight, I respect you, but I can't agree with you.
i don’t know why people are surprised at yorke and latapy’s actions when these guys were the first to break ranks with their fellow team mates during the impasse where they cozied up to jack warner for seemingly positions in the organization/TTFF.
I used to hear people yelling at others if they said anything less than complimentary about these World Cup players, calling them “our heroes” and venerating them with the respect given to freedom fighting martyrs who gave their life blood for a great cause. there was always something about that which irked me in a particular way that these players were beyond reproach.
fast forward years later and these guys are showing their true colors as to how self serving they are, latapy, Yorke and lawrence on particular. I remember during the last hex carlos edwards packed his bags and left because of something dennis lawrence did, and it dawned on me that these guys weren’t as chummy as we all would like think.
as for dwight, I wish he would get familiar with the scenario before he opened his mouth, especially to that bloody twisted tongue fool at i95 who barely has command on the English language, yet he’s a top sports journalist, only in trinidad.
Dwight you should’ve gave shaka a call and let him fill you in on the injustice that has just taken place, the one you so unwittingly endorsed. how could any one in football who was following this thing closely not see the gross injustice in this? I’ll go as far as to say that when the smoke is cleared on this one, there would be a lot of friends who will find themselves on the opposite side of the issue, the informed vs the random talkers and friends of the fat boss.
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Yorke is a c00ont without hair.
Latas too.
Lara too.
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I’ll go as far as to say that when the smoke is cleared on this one, there would be a lot of friends who will find themselves on the opposite side of the issue, the informed vs the random talkers and friends of the fat boss.
That's it right there. I've had a few conversations with fellow countrymen who's been involved in the sport for years and surprised to hear there take on this. I've been running out of energy trying to convince them otherwise.
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I’ll go as far as to say that when the smoke is cleared on this one, there would be a lot of friends who will find themselves on the opposite side of the issue, the informed vs the random talkers and friends of the fat boss.
That's it right there. I've had a few conversations with fellow countrymen who's been involved in the sport for years and surprised to hear there take on this. I've been running out of energy trying to convince them otherwise.
Don't waste your last bit of sanity on them.
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The TTFA vs FIFA fiasco
T&T Guardian
The recent FIFA take-over of Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is a stew of the history of Trinidad and Tobago's mismanagement of finances, FIFA politics and a lack of solidarity among CFU (Caribbean Football Union) members. However, with objective scrutiny, one can clearly discern that the dominant ingredient in this cook-up is blatant FIFA politics, and for this reason, I believe that Trinidad and Tobago could present a very strong and winnable case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) when the matter is called.
For those who say Trinidad and Tobago's challenge to the 'all-powerful' FIFA is futile, they adopt a defeatist attitude, which sends the wrong message to FIFA and eventually signals an abdication of the ability to control our destiny in the Caribbean; in fact, we will see the converse, whereby our destiny will be at the whim of the world body. The situation has far-reaching implications and must be viewed from a holistic Caribbean football perspective.
FIFA disbanded the four-month-old, democratically elected executive led by President William Wallace and replaced it with a Normalization Committee on March 27, after giving notice on March 17, charging that the new executive had no proper procedures in place for its claimed TT$50 million debt relief plan, a debt inherited by the Wallace group from the previous administration, led by the former president, David John-Williams.
FIFA, also was not in favour of an attempt by the William Wallace group to partner the UK-based firm, Lavender Consultants Ltd., in the development of a sports complex in Arima as part of the Executive's debt relief plan (The TTFA, instead of pursuing the Arima project, should have focused on getting the Home of Football up and running because it was a huge FIFA investment).
Also, the elected executive's failure to resolve what FIFA and CONCACAF viewed as a conflict of interest because of dual roles among members of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) and its own Referees Committee was another issue of contention.
This referees' situation existed several years before the William Wallace Executive took office; it was addressed by CONCACAF officials under the David John-Williams administration and was given a deadline of December 31st, 2019, to be resolved by a revision to the TTFA constitution to comply with FIFA statutes.
A juxtaposition of the aforementioned FIFA charges against the William Wallace Executive, democratically elected on November 24, 2019, and the calamity created by the previous David John-Williams Executive reveals the making of a solid case for the Wallace Executive group.
Here goes: The David John-Williams Executive created, among its maladies, four years of alleged financial mismanagement of FIFA Funds, particularly in the development of the unfinished and inoperable Home of Football. The Home of Football project, supposedly the signature accomplishment of the John-Williams administration, led to a court order for transparency that revealed the shortcomings of the John-Williams Executive, which were documented and reported to FIFA but from all indication appeared to have been ignored.
According to former TTFA general secretary, Ramesh Ramdhan speaking to the media in a publication on March 21, “These shortcomings were repeatedly ignored by Mosengo-Omba (a FIFA official charged with overseeing the project) whose stock response was that this was an 'internal TTFA matter that FIFA would not intervene'….” Further, it was reported in the print media that the Home of Football did not meet the local Fire Department's requirements and deemed not for use.
Additionally, the illegal dismissal of several contracted coaches, including former technical director, Kendall Walkes, and others still owed monies resulted in court-ordered frozen accounts to secure millions of dollars in payments to Walkes (The situation compounded the problems for the new Wallace administration, as it set about executing the daily operations of the TTFA). Lastly, FIFA's appointment of the financial manager, Tyril Patrick - the only hold-over by William Wallace team from the previous administration - to head the Normalization Committee is further evidence of FIFA politics at play. Patrick subsequently refused the post.
Eventually, the David John-Williams four-year tenure resulted in poor performances by all Trinidad and Tobago national teams; there was a clear deterioration of the standard of football in the country; and subsequently, football in Trinidad and Tobago was left with an inoperable Home of Football and an AGM approved TT$32.4 million debt on Nov. 24th that later was alleged to be TT$50 million by William Wallace's administration.
FIFA charged the democratically-elected William Wallace Executive, based on the aforementioned, with violating of articles 8.2 of its Statutes, which states in part, “Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office…..”
However, an objective view of the situation indicates that the David John-Williams administration is the group guilty of creating “exceptional circumstances…” I believe CAS will rule in favour of the William Wallace group. The court result notwithstanding, what is very important here is the democratically-elected William Wallace Executive's refusal to capitulate to FIFA.
FIFA should have acted in good faith and should have instructed the Normalisation Committee to work with the democratically elected William Wallace administration to revive football in Trinidad and Tobago.
Patrick Horne is a New York-based sports administrator, football coach and author of Black Pioneers of the North American Soccer League (1968-84).
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I read an article recently that stated this case could take at least two years before its called in CAS or makes it on their docket, can anyone verify?
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TTFA proposal rejected by world body for football
T&T Newsday
FOOTBALL’S world governing body FIFA is against the appointment of a single arbitrator to hear the dispute between it and the ousted executive of the TT Football Association (TTFA), according to a report on the Sportsmax website.
In its appeal last week to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to set aside FIFA’s decision to appoint a normalisation committee to oversee the daily operations of the TTFA, lawyers for the ousted TTFA executive had proposed that Mark Hovell, a solicitor from Manchester, England, be the sole arbitrator in their case against football’s world governing body FIFA.
Hovell is a highly experienced sports lawyer and insolvency practitioner who specialises in regulatory, governance, commercial and financial matters, across all sports, both in the UK and across the world.
Additionally, he sits regularly as an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and The FA’s regulatory commissions. FIFA had until April 14, to submit their comments regarding the request – whether they agree to a sole arbitrator deciding matters and Hovell’s appointment.
Replying to Antonio De Quesada, the Head of Arbitration on Tuesday, FIFA made their position on the proposal quite clear. The letter said, in part: “We inform you that we do not agree with the Appellant’s proposal to appoint a sole arbitrator in the matter at hand. Indeed, the present dispute concerns an exceptional situation that has led FIFA to take important governance-related measures in one of its members in accordance with the FIFA Statutes.”
As such, FIFA said they favoured a three-member panel to hear the dispute.
It will now fall to the president of the CAS Appeals Arbitration Division (Corinne Schmidhauser) or her deputy to decide how many arbitrators will hear the dispute.
Meantime, the lawyers are expected to file their appeals brief by Friday this week.
The issue began to unfold on March 17 when FIFA General Secretary General Fatma Samoura sent a letter to TTFA General Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, outlining their concerns about the financial status of the TTFA.
FIFA said its fact-finding mission found, among other concerns, that the “overall condition of financial management and financial governance extremely low or non-existent at the TTFA.
“There are currently no formal internal policies and internal controls in place, such as procurement, the delegation of financial authorities, financial planning and budgeting, effective oversight of funding and management reporting, which are necessary to meet the TTFA’s objectives.”
FIFA also said there is a lack of documented policies and procedures, financial planning and management of statutory liabilities adding that there no short or long-term plan to address the “urgent” situation.
Going further, FIFA expressed the concern that given the situation along with the US$5.5m debt, the TTFA “faces a very real risk of both insolvency and illiquidity if corrective measures are not applied urgently.”
As such, the normalisation committee has been mandated to run the daily affairs of the TTFA, establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA, as well as review and amend the TTFA statutes and ensure their compliance with FIFA statutes and requires before submitting them to the TTFA Congress for approval.
The committee will also organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive for a four-year term.
In response, the ousted executive led by William Wallace contended that the decision to appoint a normalisation committee was unconstitutional and has resorted to having CAS settle the dispute.
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Not at all surprising.
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Not at all surprising.
How is US 5.5 Million now? It decreasing ? A print mistake or wrong rate ?
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Not at all surprising.
How is US 5.5 Million now? It decreasing ? A print mistake or wrong rate ?
Don't know how to reconcile that as a serious figure.
I was honing in on the response to a single arbitrator versus empanelling three arbitrators.
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Edwards calls for football parties to work together
T&T Guardian
Former national player Carlos Edwards sees the only way forward for T&T football is by working together.
“The people who are associated now, have good intentions to try and help the federation, help in football improve but I don’t think they are doing a real investigation into what is needed to be successful and it is sad to see how the federation has just been withering away to what it is right now. At one point, T&T was the team in Caribbean football. Now, we may not be able to consider ourselves of being in the FIFA rankings because what has taken place,” said the former national footballer.
Edwards, who is based in the United Kingdom made the statements while speaking with host Andre Errol Baptiste on Isports on i95.5fm on Tuesday night.
"I don’t keep many tabs but the tabs that I keep, based on what I read in the newspaper or on the social media about what is taking place with the Association right now is sad, really sad. I could have sensed something like that would have happened after the World Cup. We took a big step forward for the 2006 World Cup and then we took a huge leap backwards. I don’t think things have progressed,” explained Edwards, who resides in the United Kingdom and once plies his skills at the highest level in English football while sporting the red, white and black national colours for T&T in its only appearance at the Football World Cup, Germany in 2006.
A definitive high point in T&T football, which in recent times has seen FIFA, the world governing body for football, stepped-in to run the affairs of T&T Football Association (TTFA) by appointing a normalization committee on March 17, thereby dissolving the William Wallace-led administration.
“Mr Wallace took the chance, winning the election but unfortunately things did not happen. I do wish the situation is rectified as soon as possible and they could be back in the office and try to straighten out whatever needs to be straightened out,” said Edwards, who was very sympathetic towards Wallace's executive which was in-charge for just over three months.
He said, "FIFA did the right thing in appointing those persons to the federation, to take charge of things. If the likes of (Keith) Look Loy and Wallace and they work with the people that are in charge right now we will have a better Football Association. I am sure they can rectify stuff. Because at this stage, when you look at things, I think people wanted the job and wanted to be TTFA president for their benefit and that shouldn’t be. At the end of the day, you are a president, you are a chairman, a chairperson whatever it is, to do a job and you have to start doing the job not just for yourself but for the people and the fans, first and foremost, because, without the fans, there is nothing."
At present, the former St Anthony's College standout, who is also a coach at Ipswich Town Football Academy and a player with a local team, Woodbridge Town football club, pointed that, “Playing for the club (Ipswich) for five years, you are fond of the club, you're well-known, you living in the city, things been going good, it was an easy decision to make after retiring from professional football to try and fit in, as a former player at the club it was easy to get into the door and try to get into the coaching,” said Edwards.
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Williams team faces CAS deadline vs FIFA today
By Keith Clement (T&T Guardian)
The four dismissed elected officers of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) now face a major financial challenge after FIFA, the world governing body for the sport rejected their claim to have a sole arbitrator sit in judgement of their challenge of being removed from office by FIFA.
The former TTFA president William Wallace and his three vice president Clynt Taylor, Joseph 'Sam' Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, requests a sole arbitrator that, depending on the case, would reduce fees to $10,000 and expedite the process. Currently, the appellants have paid the first CHF 1,000 to file the appeal, but FIFA responded by Tuesday's deadline and requested that it wanted three arbitrators to adjudicate on the matters raised.
Replying to Antonio De Quesada, the Head of Arbitration at CAS on Tuesday, FIFA made their position on the proposal quite clear. The letter said, in part:
“We inform you that we do not agree with the Appellant’s proposal to appoint a sole arbitrator in the matter at hand. Indeed, the present dispute concerns an exceptional situation that has led FIFA to take important governance-related measures in one of its members in accordance with the FIFA Statutes.”
As such, FIFA said they favoured a three-member panel to hear the dispute.
It will now fall to the President of the CAS Appeals Arbitration Division or her deputy to decide how many arbitrators will hear the dispute after both parties have filed their briefs.
However, until that decision is made, the former TTFA officers through their attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew GW Gayle, have until Friday to move to the next phase of the process which is to file an appellate brief, a more comprehensive and detailed document containing all the legal arguments as to why the United TTFA officers should win the case.
Gayle told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday that: "We are focus on putting together a cogent and compelling appeal brief until that deadline is met."
The brief is expected to contain details of the case, outlining who are the witnesses, experts and other informative details. The matter is registered as CAS2020/A/6915.
FIFA will then need to reply by Monday (April 20) by producing its arguments in full details after which CAS will examine both sides briefs before determining a time for the matter to commence at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
CAS appeals cost about $20,000 with the appellant’s legal costs generally doubling that amount.
In a video statement on April 1, on their crowdsourcing ‘gofundme’ page, Wallace maintains that he is still in charge of the TTFA, saying: “To be clear I remain president of TTFA based on our constitution… I can only be removed by the operation of the TTFA’s constitution, not by FIFA.”
However, Wallace and his team have raised part of the money fund via the fundraising page showed no movement from April 1 total contribution was at $3,155 and up to press time on Thursday (April 16) it stood at $3,205 with the latest donation of $50 made on April 11. The target by Wallace's team is TT$300,000 to $500,000 or the estimated US$25,000 for the CAS appeal.
One of those that have donated is Keith Look Loy, the TTFA’s former technical committee chair under the Wallace administration, who paid in $200. Look Loy is the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Super League, who has said that the league’s clubs have agreed on a donation of $2,000.
A supporter Elvin Edwards has made the single biggest contribution of US$1,000 with Wallace contributing the second-largest amount of US$500.
On March 17, FIFA wrote to the TTFA advising them that they were appointing a normalisation committee to take over the running of the heavily indebted association. However, despite protests from the executive because such a move would be in breach of the TTFA constitution, FIFA proceeded to name members of the committee on March 26.
In FIFA's General Secretary General Fatma Samoura letter to TTFA General Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, pointed to article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa Statutes’ as it outlined FIFA's concerns about the financial status of the TTFA. FIFA said its fact-finding mission (February 25-27) found, among other concerns, that the “overall condition of financial management and financial governance extremely low or non-existent at the TTFA.
“There are currently no formal internal policies and internal controls in place, such as procurement, the delegation of financial authorities, financial planning and budgeting, effective oversight of funding and management reporting, which are necessary to meet the TTFA’s objectives.”
FIFA also said there is a lack of documented policies and procedures, financial planning and management of statutory liabilities adding that there's no short or long-term plan to address the “urgent” situation.
FIFA also pointed out that current debt is USD$5.5m (TT$37.4 million), the TTFA “faces a very real risk of both insolvency and illiquidity if corrective measures are not applied urgently.”
As such, the normalisation committee has been mandated to run the daily affairs of the TTFA, establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA, as well as review and amend the TTFA statutes and ensure their compliance with FIFA statutes and requires before submitting them to the TTFA Congress for approval. The committee will also organize and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive for a four-year term.
The Normalization Committee was appointed on March 27, with businessman Robert Hadad, attorney Judy Daniel and retired banker Nigel Romano with two other members to be named.
Wallace and his three vice presidents were elected on November 24, 2019, to a four-year term of office.
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Andre Baptiste is a real snake boy.
Where all these players was these last five years.
I feel I with maxg yes. Good luck and Godspeed.
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Andre Baptiste is a real snake boy.
Where all these players was these last five years.
I feel I with maxg yes. Good luck and Godspeed.
let me tell yuh where all these players was for de past several years , dem said players who now coming out de woodwork in support of an arrogant Fifa , dey ( dem same players) mentioned was laying in de grass like vicious Cobras waiting to strike , that's de answer Right dey .......it's called snakes !
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Resistance to Fifa is futile: fall in line or prepare to be Normalised
By Barney Ronay (The Guardian)
Nobody wants a visit from the Normalisation Committee. This was the fate of the Samoan FA in June 2008 after concerns were raised about the state of its finances. At which point Fifa fired up the corvette and sent in its platoon of tuxedoed Mr Fix-its.
Let’s be clear. Nobody wants a visit from this Normalisation Committee. The team of high moral priests sent to the Samoan FA’s door that day were handpicked by a specially convened Fifa emergency committee, a delegation that read, in no particular order: Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner, Issa Hayatou, Michel Platini, Reynald Temarii, Mohammad bin Hammam and Nicolás Leoz.
Or to give them their full Seven Dwarves-style nicknames: Six Year Ban Guy, Criminal Charges Guy, TV Rights Fine Guy, Dishonest Payment Guy, Eight Year Ban Guy, Life Ban Guy and of course everyone’s favourite crime-fighting administrator, Interpol Red Notice Guy. Here they come, the lads: a perfumed kerchief held to their noses, here to de-corrupt your football association.
Twelve years on the Samoa emergency committee is arguably one of the best jokes modern football has ever come up with. Just how abnormal do you have to be to require this degree of normalising? But then these were the golden years of footballing chicanery, when the yak-hide handbags flowed like wine and when Fifa could basically do as it wished.
The anomaly was that Samoa fought back. In a rare show of resistance the Samoan FA appealed to the court of arbitration for sport. It didn’t work. The appeal was rejected and the good times continued to roll at Fifa house, reaching a peak with the bribe-shadowed World Cup bid decisions that would prove an act of hubris even for that thoroughly debauched regime.
And so to the present day. Replace one bald, unctuous Swiss with a slightly younger bald, unctuous Swiss and something similar is happening in the Caribbean, a test case for where we may be heading in the struggle for the heart, soul and wallet of world football.
The Trinidad & Tobago FA experienced its own visit from the Fifa Normalisers in March after another shemozzle over debt. Like Samoa the TTFA has fought back. Another appeal has been lodged at Cas, this time via crowdfunded legal action.
Fifa’s move does seem bizarrely aggressive. The deposed TTFA committee had been in place for only four months, having seen off Gianni Infantino’s favoured candidate David John-Williams in a local vote.
The TTFA board member Keith Look Loy has accused Fifa of acting like “a colonial absentee landlord”. The former Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has called the intervention “a coup”. In an excellent twist the leader of the ousted rebel FA is even called William Wallace. They can take our lives but they’ll never take … our freebies.
Much has been made by the ancien régime of Look Loy and co’s historic association with the disgraced Jack Warner, once of the Samoan Normalisation Committee and now avoiding the US justice system.
Asked about rumours he might have lobbied for the Wallace campaign – something Wallace fiercely denies – Warner told the broadcaster Andre Errol Baptiste of Port of Spain-based i95.5fm: “Even if that was the case, and by the way that is not the case, and it means that is the beginning of the way to lift football in the country, so be it. What’s wrong with that?” Which pretty much clears that one up.
What is actually happening here? This might feel like a dispute at the edge of things, with plenty that is undesirable on both sides, but Fifa’s actions seem extraordinarily high-handed and patrician, even by its own standards, evidence of the increasing hawkishness of the Infantino regime. As the Norwegian Josimar website has pointed out the man in charge of all this normalisation is even one of Infantino’s best friends, his old university chum Véron Mosengo-Omba.
This matters right now. There is a great deal up for grabs a month into the total collapse of club football’s broadcast rights power base. This perhaps explains why Fifa’s public statements during the Covid-19 crisis have been almost alarmingly relaxed. Fifa may suspend all international football. Fifa may, we hear, dig into its Ł2bn cash fund to bail out clubs and leagues.
“Never let a serious crisis go to waste” is an overused line in the current uncertainty but you can bet Infantino has it inked on the back of his hand. Make no mistake Fifa has a great deal to gain at a time when every entity that has tried to resist its power, from Premier League to Uefa to the poor old TTFA, is significantly weakened.
The collapse of the Blatter-Warner-Platini era hit Fifa hard but not that hard. Money continued to flow but what Fifa really wants is power, most noticeably in its shadow-struggle with club football, where Infantino is convinced it is Fifa’s destiny to take a stronger role.
This seemed to be coming to a head late last year as Florentino Pérez presented a breakaway plan led by the richest clubs to cut out domestic leagues, with Fifa seemingly in close, approving pursuit.
Exciting new plans come and go. This one seemed as likely as so many others but Covid-19 has shifted the picture even further. Every league, every club is facing a financial nosedive, their power tied inexorably to those freeze-framed TV deals. “Football can – and I believe will – play a big part in helping our world recover,” Infantino mused last week, no doubt pondering the majesty of his organisation’s bank balance and with the next major Fifa payday safely tucked away in late 2022.
Nobody really knows what the world will look like once normalisation returns to all of us but some certainties do remain. Resistance, as the case of the TTFA demonstrates, is still futile and right now Fifa is in a position to bend that future to its will.
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First Citizens Bank threatened with legal action over control of TTFA accounts
By Leighton Levy (digicelsportsmax.com)
Lawyers representing William Wallace and his executive have threatened legal action against First Citizens Bank in Port of Spain should they find that the bank has changed signatories to the accounts of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) without the required authorisation.
Wallace and the members of his executive were elected to lead the TTFA during elections held in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2019. However, less than four months later, FIFA, through a letter dated March 17, 2020, indicated that they were appointing a normalisation committee to oversee the daily running of the heavily indebted association.
Despite protests from the Wallace-led executive that such a move was unconstitutional, FIFA went ahead and appointed a committee later that month.
To exacerbate the matter, members of the executive received information recently that the normalization committee had gained control of the TTFA’s accounts, which prompted Friday’s action from the lawyers.
“Since the elections held in November 2019, following which Mr William Wallace was duly elected President of the TTFA and subsequent thereto added as a signatory to the accounts, there has been no further change,” the letter dated April 17, 2020, said in part.
“Any attempts to change the signatories on the account which may have already been made in March or April 2020 or attempts which may be made hereafter without the express approval of Mr William Wallace and/or the duly elected executives is unauthorized.”
The letter continued: “My client would like to believe that in the modern banking context which is set against a backdrop of robust due diligence, no mere letter from a body with no legal standing in Trinidad and Tobago, could usurp the due authority of the TTFA Board of Directors and/or induce the bank to breach its contract with the TTFA.
“Should it come to light that the bank has provided any confidential information to, or acted to make any changes in respect to the TTFA accounts…my clients shall without delay approach the High Court or urgent assistance in preventing or stopping any breach or unlawful interference.”
Earlier this week, Wallace wrote to the Minister of National Security of Trinidad and Tobago expressing concern over discussions the normalisation committee was having with the government about the use of the ‘Home of Football’ to house citizens infected by the Coronavirus COVID-19.
Wallace insisted that he should have been a party to those conversations and not the normalization committee.
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Andre Baptiste is a real snake boy.
Where all these players was these last five years.
I feel I with maxg yes. Good luck and Godspeed.
he would never interview shaka or kelvin jack because he knows too well those guys would tell it
like it is, so he cherry picks his subjects so he could get the desired results. just goes to show how sick some of these trini journalist are. I’ve never seen a country where people who were supposed to be objective and neutral take so many positions and have so many hidden agendas.
I don’t know why most of you are shocked by this guy, he has always struck me as a clown with a big mouth, in fact he kinda reminds me of king clown himself anil roberts.
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Andre Baptiste is a real snake boy.
Where all these players was these last five years.
I feel I with maxg yes. Good luck and Godspeed.
let me tell yuh where all these players was for de past several years , dem said players who now coming out de woodwork in support of an arrogant Fifa , dey ( dem same players) mentioned was laying in de grass like vicious Cobras waiting to strike , that's de answer Right dey .......it's called snakes !
as a trinidadian i would like to ask you a poignant question, so please permit me if you will. for the last forty years don’t you think we could have done so much better than we’re doing at this juncture of our existence?
We are the inventors of the last musical instrument yet our government and by extension our private sector has done very little to capitalize on this instrument. we have some of the best sportsmen’s in the caribbean and had the capital to make this country the sports Mecca of the caribbean, and until patrick manning we didn’t have anyone to really invest in the advancement of sports on the island.
the wealthy and the private sector spend little to none on sports, nor social programs, it’s amazing to know we have so many talented people yet in many communities especially around north western trinidad apart from the queens park savannah and mandela park there are no public grounds for kids to play sports.
and finally we have a nation with loads of money yet there are so much poor people all over the place, and criminals running wild yet law enforcement is unable to contain this simple matter, and only because the police is involved in nefarious activity thus we can’t get a hold on crime, not to mention our politicians, they tussle and tug at each other instead of coming together to fix the country. I guess I’m saying all this to say that our people has always been the problem when it comes to the failure that country.
They don’t care much for that country and in fact they do their best to sabotage it for their own personal gain. we are blessed with talented motivated young people, but they are continually poisoned by our lack of care and concern for nation building and often fall by the way side in their teens. to sum it up, those people don’t give ah hoot about that country, and when anyone else care to help us they turn on them.
Raymond timkee, Randy walrum, David nakid, Patrick manning, Eric williams, commissioner gibbs, everald Cummings, bertile st Claire, Keith look loy, Steven hart, phill simmons, terry fenwick and now William Wallace who are just a few of the people who cared enough to sacrifice for this nation and was disregarded by these looney jealous bad minded people call trinidadians. feel free too add to the list.
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I’m not gonna lie, I can’t believe what little support this new federation president has gotten from our most influential citizens from sports figures to business people and politicians. I will have to say that this is the most disgraceful response I’ve ever seen in the way of an obvious injustice predicated on one of our national institution, yet no one seems to be bothered any.
i can’t believe one lowly fat f**k could be so selfish and dictatorial to sic fifa on this federation president simply because he was ousted in free and fair elections. this nasty wanker actually think he owns trinidad football and believes he has a right to rule our football permanently like jack warner, and holds the notion that if he can’t have the position of president of the FA then no one can. how could our people be so lackadaisical and unconcerned to allow one man so much power to harm the main sport in our country? this is just inconceivable.
had this been mexico or the United states it would have caused an uproar heard on the other side of the globe that fifa would have no choice but to reconsider. our citizens crave World Cup appearances but have no real passion for the sports, not even to rise up from their couches to lend a dollar to this cause.
as for wallace, I’m a bit disappointed with his reaction. the man have no supportive cast but he wants to run a federation. to think they can’t even approach the private sector or the govt for help and has only managed to raise just a few thousands for legal fees is beyond pitiful, never mind unacceptable, and needs a more dignified professional approach to this dilemma .
at least the fat boss had more drive in his selfish endeavors to the point where he could mobilize big financial players like junior Sammy and the government themselves invest in his ideas and support his cause. wallace has to get off his ass and do much better or forget it. BTW where’s tony harford in all this?
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Gayle still hopeful of fair hearing
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)
MATTHEW Gayle, one of a pair of lawyers for the ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) executive led by William Wallace, is still hopeful of a fair hearing by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The ousted TTFA executive has appealed to CAS over the March 17 decision by football’s governing body FIFA to appoint a normalisation committee to oversee the daily operations of the TTFA.
The ousted TTFA executive’s legal team of Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne proposed that English solicitor Mark Hovell be the sole arbitrator in their legal battle against FIFA. They have stressed that FIFA acted in an unconstitutional manner, when appointing the normalisation committee.
But, on Tuesday, FIFA said they are in favour of a three-member panel to hear the dispute.
Gayle said on Thursday, “FIFA has objected and said they want three arbitrators. CAS knows that we want one arbitrator. What will now happen is (CAS) will make a decision, as to whether or not it should be one arbitrator or three, and they will let us know what the decision is.
“It’s that simple. We have to abide by the rulings that they gave in that respect.
Gayle noted, “We have confidence that we’re going to get a fair and balanced hearing from CAS.”
FIFA decided to scrap the previous executive led by Wallace and appoint a normalisation committee, led by Robert Hadad, due to concerns over the financial status of the TTFA.
“We’re of the view that it’s a relatively simple and straightforward point, for determination by an arbitrator,” Gayle said. “It’s not the sort of question that requires three arbitrators to sit and deliberate an item. It should be pretty straightforward.
“It’s not to say it should affect our ability to get a fair hearing, with three arbitrators,” added Gayle. “If we get three good arbitrators, then we’ll have a fair hearing.
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FIFA confirms Hadad as TTFA’s ‘legitimate leader’
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)
MERE HOURS after T&T Football Association (TTFA) legal representative, Matthew Gayle, issued a pre-action protocol letter to First Citizens’ general manager, Kinols Forde, declaring former president William Wallace and his executive members remain sole signatories of the fraternity’s bank accounts, a statement issued by FIFA’s secretary general, Fatma Samoura on Friday evening, debunked these claims.
According to Samoura, since the appointment of a normalisation committee by FIFA on March 17 after the world’s governing body found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity, Robert Hadad, chairman of the committee, is “the only legitimate leadership of the TTFA, recognised by the FIFA and Concacaf.”
FIFA’s response on Friday came after receipt of a letter issued by Wallace one day prior, to Minister of National Security, Stuart Young, alleging that he (Wallace) and other former executive members – Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip – continue to be members of the TTFA executive committee, even after a decision by FIFA disbanded the board on March 17.
The sport’s governing body issued a swift reply sternly denying Wallace’s claims that the normalisation committee had no legal or other standing in T&T.
Samoura’s letter to Hadad further stated, “On March 17 2020, the Bureau of the FIFA Council decided, in accordance to article 8 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statutes, to appoint a normalisation committee at the TTFA. In this respect, we want to highlight that the only legitimate leadership of the TTFA…is the one led by Mr. Robert Hadad.”
“Having said this, any type of discussion regarding the use of the Home of Football or any other football-related topic should be handled with Hadad.”
Gayle’s letter to Forde, dated April 17, asserts that “person or persons may have attempted and/or be in the process of attempting to change the named signatories on the accounts held by the TTFA and First Citizens Bank.”
It also stated Wallace’s position as a signatory remains as is and, “person/s who purport to be acting in response to a directive from outside of TT purportedly given in or around March 2020 have no standing whatsoever in respect of the TTFA.”
Gayle’s letter also stated that no unauthorised body (referring to normalisation committee), “with no legal standing in TT could usurp the due authority of the TTFA’s board of directors and/or induce the bank the breach its contract with the TTFA.”
If, according to Gayle, the bank did in fact provide any confidential information to, or acted to make any changes in respect to TTFA’s accounts, the football fraternity’s legal team, which also consists of Dr. Emir Crowne, will, “without delay approach the High Court for urgent assistance in preventing and/or stopping any breach and/or unlawful interference.”
Additionally, TTFA’s attorney assured that his letter to the bank was sent in compliance with the relevant pre-action protocols as prescribed by the Chief Justice pursuant to Part 4 of the Civil Proceedings Rules 1998.
It concluded, “No further notice or warning shall be issued. I would be grateful if you would be kind enough to confirm the bank’s position by no later than 12 (noon) on Monday 20 April 2020.”
In response to the issues highlighted by Gayle to the bank and FIFA’s authorisation letter on Friday, Hadad questioned the tactics by the former executive but admitted that everyone has a right to voice their concerns in a professional manner.
Since their removal from the helm of local football, the sacked quartet filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) saying the move was fueled by unclear moves and done without legal authority.
Hadad explained, “FIFA’s letter is in response to them, the former executive, still sending out letters with the TTFA letterhead. At the end of the day, they’re not authorised and legally, FIFA has us (normalisation committee) there. I’m the man in charge and the bank would have to make a decision from its legal department.”
The newly-appointed football chief believes TT football is suffering and needs to be fixed. He also confirmed that he did in fact make contact with the bank to attain feedback on TTFA’s accounts.
“I sent a request to First Citizens to get a legal opinion from them. So I’m waiting on (First Citizens) to decide how we go from here and the legal procedure to have the changes made. (The former executive) have their hearing with CAS, so let CAS be the judge of that. In the meantime, people have salaries and bills to be paid and football to run,” Hadad continued.
“I would like to just get down to the business of football. If CAS wants to rule in their favour, alright, we’ll deal with that then. As it stands now, the letter from FIFA says everything.
RELATED NEWS
Fifa: Hadad is ‘legitimate’ TTFA boss; Look Loy: Law is on our side and CAS will settle it.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
World governing football body, Fifa, has dismissed William Wallace’s claim that he is still Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president and reiterated its stance that businessman Robert Hadad, the head of a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee, is its man of business in the twin island republic.
Fifa’s missive, which was emailed by secretary general Fatma Samoura to Hadad and copied to Concacaf and the Ministry of National Security, was in response to Wallace’s letter yesterday.
Wallace, who was elected football president on 24 November 2019, expressed ‘concern’ that the government negotiated with Hadad rather than him for use of the TTFA’s Home of Football facility in Couva, to house Covid-19 patients.
Although Fifa declared that Wallace’s reign was over on 17 March—just four months into his four year term—due to the local body’s unwieldy debt, the TTFA constitution does not permit anyone but its own members to remove a sitting president.
The TTFA was formed by an act of Parliament in 1982 while its constitution was ratified by Fifa in July 2015.
At present, the TTFA and Fifa are due to take their dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Fifa is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
However, Fifa made it clear that it does not recognise Wallace’s claim to the country’s top football post.
“It has come to our attention that a letter dated 16 April 2020 from Mr William Wallace was addressed to the Trinidad and Tobago Minister of National Security Mr Stewart (sic) Young,” stated Samoura. “The letter seems to allege that Mr William Wallace, Mr Clynt Taylor, Mrs Susan Joseph Warrick (sic) and Mr Joseph Sam Phillip continue to be members of the executive committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and that the normalisation committee led by Mr Robert Hadad has no legal or other standing in Trinidad and Tobago.
“In this context, we draw your attention to the fact that, on 17 March 2020, the Bureau of the Fifa Council decided, in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the Fifa statutes to appoint a normalisation committee at the TTFA.”
Article 8.2 for the Fifa statutes states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time’.
And, despite the will of the local football electorate, Fifa has opted to entrust the responsibility of the TTFA to Hadad, a 53-year-old businessman and co-CEO of family-owned company, Hadco. Hadad is also a member of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) and a board member of the International School in Port of Spain.
The remaining normalisation committee members named so far are Judy Daniel and Nigel L Romano.
The mandate of the committee is: to run the TTFA’s daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
“We want to highlight that the only legitimate leadership of the TTFA, recognised by Fifa and Concacaf, is the one led by Mr Robert Hadad,” stated the Fifa secretary general. “Having said this, any type of discussion regarding the use of Home of Football or any other football-related topic should be handled with Mr Robert Hadad.”
Wired868 could not reach Wallace for comment. However, TTFA board member and technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy said he was not surprised by Fifa’s stance.
“That is expected [because] this is the position of the two parties to this case,” said Look Loy. “Wallace is saying according to the law and constitution of the TTFA, Fifa cannot remove it—nobody but the membership can remove that administration. The letter that [Wallace and his vice-presidents] sent [to the National Security Ministry] reflects that.
“The letter sent by Fifa reflects their fiction that they could remove whomever they want and put in who they want in place, never mind the laws of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association; and CAS will settle it.”
Look Loy stressed that Wallace’s stance is a legal one, based on the constitution of the TTFA, which was approved by Fifa.
“Might I add again that the TTFA constitution was approved by Fifa,” said Look Loy, “and the only way you can become an officer of the TTFA is by vote of the general council; and that is the only way you can be removed.”
Hadad declined the opportunity to weigh in on the impasse.
“The [Fifa] letter speaks for itself,” he said.
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FIFA confirms Hadad as TTFA’s ‘legitimate leader’
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)
MERE HOURS after T&T Football Association (TTFA) legal representative, Matthew Gayle, issued a pre-action protocol letter to First Citizens’ general manager, Kinols Forde, declaring former president William Wallace and his executive members remain sole signatories of the fraternity’s bank accounts, a statement issued by FIFA’s secretary general, Fatma Samoura on Friday evening, debunked these claims.
According to Samoura, since the appointment of a ...
The FIFA letter didn't "debunk" as Ramnanansingh asserts. It merely stated FIFA's alternative narrative and that that narrative be followed. I get that FIFA's letterhead gets deference, but the TTFA position - though unpalatable to some - should also receive balanced descriptive treatment by media outlets.
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FIFA confirms Hadad as TTFA’s ‘legitimate leader’
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)
MERE HOURS after T&T Football Association (TTFA) legal representative, Matthew Gayle, issued a pre-action protocol letter to First Citizens’ general manager, Kinols Forde, declaring former president William Wallace and his executive members remain sole signatories of the fraternity’s bank accounts, a statement issued by FIFA’s secretary general, Fatma Samoura on Friday evening, debunked these claims.
According to Samoura, since the appointment of a ...
The FIFA letter didn't "debunk" as Ramnanansingh asserts. It merely stated FIFA's alternative narrative and that that narrative be followed. I get that FIFA's letterhead gets deference, but the TTFA position - though unpalatable to some - should also receive balanced descriptive treatment by media outlets.
But it won’t my friend
We both know, the media outlets are an extension of the govt of TT and private sector, there is no neutrality, no objectivity, they play both sides when it’s time for the other party’s turn to sit in the drivers seat..
Once fifa sent them to the gallows, the govt followed
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FIFA is boss...Sport Minister to meet with Robert Hadad soon
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs (MSYA) Shamfa Cudjoe is expected to meet with FIFA Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad for the first time sometime next week.
FIFA apart, the T&T Government, through MSYA and the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago, is the major provider of funds to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
Cudjoe admitted FIFA had brief the Government of its impending action, prior to dissolving the debt-ridden TTFA on March 17 and subsequently imposing a Normalisation Committee — headed by local businessman Robert Hadad — to manage local football.
“I am yet to meet with the new head of the body, which FIFA has put in charge, but I expect to do so in the next week or so,” informed Cudjoe, who has also indicated to availing herself to a meeting with William Wallace, president of the usurped former TTFA executive.
US$7m debt inherited
Wallace’s regime, which was elected to run the TTFA only five months ago, inherited a US$7m debt; several current and impending litigation matters; and has had its accounts frozen by a creditor prior to when FIFA intervened, citing the possibility of impending insolvency. Wallace has declared that he is still in charge, even as the ousted TTFA executive contest FIFA’S expulsion, via an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). However, Cudjoe indicated that MSYA would deal with Hadad’s Normalisation Committee rather than Wallace’s former TTFA executive.
“We have to operate on the basis of what is before us,” Cudjoe explained. “Each national body has an international parent body and in the case of football, it is FIFA.
“FIFA has come in and done what it has done. We will monitor what is taking place,” Cudjoe continued. “We have been updated by FIFA and we are keeping abreast of developments.“
The Minister has on several occasions reiterated that football is a very powerful tool for youth development in communities and provides many avenues for personal and professional growth.
Last year, Cudjoe issued a cheque for $3.6 million for funding of eight of 11 clubs that participated in the 2019 Trinidad and Tobago Pro League. Arising from a Cabinet decision to fund the TT Pro League for a period of three years, a number of clubs, namely Central FC, North East Stars FC, Calendonia AIA FC, W Connection FC, Pt Fortin FC, Club Sando FC, Terminex Rangers and San Juan Jabloteh FC.
Cudjoe also does not expect FIFA intervention to last indefinitely and thinks that football needs to be in a better place than it is now. She has urged stakeholders to focus on creating opportunities for the nation’s youth.
“We have all been concerned with the situation in football for some time,” the Sport Minister stated. “I hope that all stakeholders will work together because at the end of the day its about football and restoring Trinidad and Tobago football to its former glory.”
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Here's an interesting perspective from Barney Ronay writing in The Guardian (UK): Resistance to FIFA is futile: fall in line or prepare to be Normalised (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/17/resistance-fifa-futile-prepare-to-be-normalised-football-broadcast-rights). It references the TTFA matter before CAS.
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What am I missing here ? I don't suppose I'll get an answer that , so let me move on to the next by asking Is anyone surprised by the urgency by the sports minister to meet with Fifa's normalisation appointee Robert Hadad ? I have come to the conclusion I am not at all surprised nor trust any present politician as it stand at the moment ! Here we have the sport minister ready and willingly sprinting towards a meeting with Robert Hadad what am I missing here ? Didn't mr William Wallace requested an audience/ meeting with the sport minister ? Was it even entertained with the same urgency ! What am I missing here ? Ok I am not missing anything I suppose, for all along as stated not by me , but the very sports minister Shamfa cudjoe by her admittance that Fifa briefed the government of their ( Fifa) impending action towards TTFA which in fact did come about ( the replacement ) of the duly elected William Wallace administration ! All I have to say is there goes the very deceit / arrogance/ conneivance I talk about ! Simply put expect more of the same nonsense to repeat itself as long as there are individuals as such as Shamfa cudjoe . Shamfa cudjoe what else did Fifa keep you and your government abreast of ? I would not hold my breath for a response !!! What am I missing !
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And no football playing right now whatsoever. Not even a lime kicking. When before we had women's qualifying urgently and men's on the horizon.
Look how these people just abdicating their sovereign duty before you could even say yes massa. Shame on Shamfa.
I done in truth yes.
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St. Clair urges Wallace to rethink position in FIFA/TTFA impasse
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
RECENTLY INDUCTED 2020 First Citizens Sports Foundation Hall of Famer Bertille St Clair is concerned about the ramifications if sidelined Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president Williams Wallace persists with a battle against FIFA, the governing body for world football.
Lawyers representing the Wallace-led TTFA executive launched an appeal before the International Court of the Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) on April 6, after the Fédération Internationale De Football Association (FIFA), replaced them and on March 17 imposed a Normalisation Committee led by local businessman Robert Hadad, to run Trinidad and Tobago’s football.
“I just hope they don’t make us get banned by FIFA,” said St Clair, the most successful local coach in T&T history. “A ban will be devastating for the young footballers and that is what football is about, not administrators.”
St Clair was the first football coach from the English-speaking Caribbean to qualify a team for a FIFA World Cup. In 1991, he led a team, which included Dwight Yorke, Jerren Nixon, Angus Eve, Clayton Ince, Shaka Hislop, Anthony Sherwood and Kerwin “Pappa” Emmanuel to participate at the World Youth Championship.
He was also the first coach to take a T&T senior team to a semi-final appearance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2000. The Tobago native has also trained national football teams at every level from Under-13, Under-16, Under-17, Under-20 to the seniors, along with teams in ladies hockey and cricket.
The former school teacher is also counted among the most successful coaches at schoolboy level, claiming five National InterCol titles with Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive (1982, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’95’).
St Clair thinks Wallace and his executives should allow FIFA’s normalisation committee to do its work. A known disciplinarian, St Clair was never one to mince words.
“I don’t know why they are fighting FIFA,” said Sinclair. “You owe $50 million. If they want to come in and want to clean up the thing, let them, then go and win the election after,” he reasoned.
St Clair was among those present last year when FIFA president Gianni Infantino came to T&T last November for the official launch and unveiling of the US$2.5 million Home of Football, built by the world governing body. He believes that Wallace made a huge misstep in closing down the Home of Football. He did not see the wisdom in the TTFA criticising the entity that provided it with a permanent home.
“That is a fantastic facility (HoF),” St Clair noted. “If there are some things wrong with it, then fix it. You don’t close it down. That makes no sense.”
In a long and distinguished career, St Clair, 78, has travelled the world and interacted with players, coaches and officials at all levels. And he does not feel Wallace’s battle against FIFA is one that can be won. “FIFA is the boss. They control everything. I really hope we don’t get in problems with FIFA,” St Clair reiterated.
“I want to see a change, a big improvement in Trinidad football. We were ranked number 25 in the world once, and now we are a hundred and something. Something has to change, and it will not be easy,” he concluded.
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What am I missing here ? I don't suppose I'll get an answer that , so let me move on to the next by asking Is anyone surprised by the urgency by the sports minister to meet with Fifa's normalisation appointee Robert Hadad ? I have come to the conclusion I am not at all surprised nor trust any present politician as it stand at the moment ! Here we have the sport minister ready and willingly sprinting towards a meeting with Robert Hadad what am I missing here ? Didn't mr William Wallace requested an audience/ meeting with the sport minister ? Was it even entertained with the same urgency ! What am I missing here ? Ok I am not missing anything I suppose, for all along as stated not by me , but the very sports minister Shamfa cudjoe by her admittance that Fifa briefed the government of their ( Fifa) impending action towards TTFA which in fact did come about ( the replacement ) of the duly elected William Wallace administration ! All I have to say is there goes the very deceit / arrogance/ conneivance I talk about ! Simply put expect more of the same nonsense to repeat itself as long as there are individuals as such as Shamfa cudjoe . Shamfa cudjoe what else did Fifa keep you and your government abreast of ? I would not hold my breath for a response !!! What am I missing !
please mate I beg you, do not go down that road. and furthermore please don’t give that wanker named controversial fuel to add to his ridiculous notions that the government are somehow in cahoots with FIFA to wreck TT football.
we all know the reason why the government is meeting with Robert hadad, it’s because they need the use of the HOF for the covid 19 step down facility, other than that they and FIFA have no business together.
I listen to shamfa’s interview concerning the ttff and she said in the past few years when the government wanted to help football the ttfa (and I’m guessing it was during DJW tenure) they would say that they only answer to fifa, she also claimed that when the United ttfa won the election they never reached out to the government, and now that they are in war with FIFA they are now trying to reach out to the MOS, and quite frankly i don’t blame her.
we all love and want nothing more than to support the new ttfa, but let’s not ignore the fact that this new administration started off on the wrong foot by misrepresenting a few things both with NIKE and junior sammy, not to mention their failure seeking out the government’s help with bringing the HOF up to a working standard as early as december. and has missed out on the whole carnival season where they had the facility to at least keep a few fetes as a means to raise funds.
I really don’t believe the government have anything to gain by getting in bed with FIFA, I just don’t see the point of it.
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And no football playing right now whatsoever. Not even a lime kicking. When before we had women's qualifying urgently and men's on the horizon.
Look how these people just abdicating their sovereign duty before you could even say yes massa. Shame on Shamfa.
I done in truth yes.
mate the media is putting words in the woman’s mouth, I watched the clip and basically she was saying that when the government reached out to the federation about the state of football and they brush off the government by invoking “we only answer to fifa”, now I’m guessing that this was during fat boy tenure, she also said that the United ttfa made no efforts to reach them until they ran into trouble with FIFA. take that for what it’s worth.
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Sports Minister not picking sides in TTFA, FIFA wrangle
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
SPORTS MINISTER Shamfa Cudjoe has declared that the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs (MSYA) will remain neutral in the battle between ousted executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA, the governing body for world football.
While the parties will make their case before the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Minister Cudjoe firmly declared that MSYA’s position is one of neutrality and that Government will not pick sides. “I am not here to be neither judge nor juror,” Cudjoe stated.
The executive of the William Wallace-led TTFA administration filed an appeal with CAS on April 6, after FIFA intervened in the running of Trinidad and Tobago football on March 17. FIFA then set up a normalisation committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad to restructure local football.
After initially filing the complaint of the TTFA executives, attorneys Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne followed up by filing an appellate brief on Friday, April 17, giving details of the complaint, including witnesses, and experts to be called.
Today, FIFA is expected to send its response to CAS. The Court will then look at the merits of each argument, deciding if there is a case that has been made, and give further instruction on how the matter would proceed.
Today, FIFA is expected to send its response to CAS. The Court will then look at the merits of each argument, deciding if there is a case that has been made, and give further instruction on how the matter would proceed.
Minister Cudjoe stressed MSYA’s neutrality in the matter and at the same time, she recognised that as the governing body for football, FIFA would take particular actions according to its statutes. “We have to deal with what is before us. What has happened has already happened,” Cudjoe added. “We can’t make FIFA not step in anymore. FIFA has already stepped in.”
She also wanted to clarify a miscommunication. The minister said she had no prior knowledge of FIFA’S decision to appoint a normalisation committee and added that FIFA informed her of their action, only after an official release was sent out by the world governing body on March 17.
“After the public announcement was made…it was only after I was told by FIFA,” Cudjoe stated. “As a matter of fact, when the press release was circulated on the media and the media contacted me, I couldn’t even give media (a) comment because they (FIFA) had not been in contact with me on the matter.”
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“I just hope they don’t make us get banned by FIFA,” said St Clair, the most successful local coach in T&T history. “A ban will be devastating for the young footballers and that is what football is about, not administrators.”
The TTFA can't be banned for pursuing process with CAS. Please stop the nonsense!
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"we all know the reason why the government is meeting with Robert hadad, it’s because they need the use of the HOF for the covid 19 step down facility, other than that they and FIFA have no business together."
In another post I attempted to explain why the HoF as displayed was not needed as part of the Covid 19 response in the very near future.
Secondly, if Hadad and Government have to meet concerning it's use, that would be a meeting with the Ministry of Health, and/or Ministry of National Security and Ministry of Works and other related officers (Regional corporation, Safety Inspectors,etc). There is absolutely no reason for the MSYA to be meeting with anybody concerning Covid19 at this time. Again, conclude what you may, but make sure you have facts, at least as much info as you can get.
add: https://www.facebook.com/tttliveonline/videos/344597143166976/
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Pull stones I have never and neither will I get into any tug of war between ( yourself and contro ) or any member here on this forum for that matter , so here is my reluctant response to you , you are free to be critical or share your point of view/ views on any subject matter I have no issue with that , I hope we understand each other clearly my friend ! Keep in mind and I'll mention it once more I neither want to get into any tit for tat between you and contro or any member here thats my simple response ! Respectfully so .
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While I understand the complexities of this case, Shamfa should be on TTFA side. Wallace did not do anything wrong other than report some deficiencies in the facility. Rightly so. So Hadad and the govt saying the place is ready. So I guess the Fire Services wrong about the assessment of the place. Who is paying the liability ? And who is paying for the additional repairs or structural issues that Wallace claimed. So Wallace and them was lying?
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While I understand the complexities of this case, Shamfa should be on TTFA side. Wallace did not do anything wrong other than report some deficiencies in the facility. Rightly so. So Hadad and the govt saying the place is ready. So I guess the Fire Services wrong about the assessment of the place. Who is paying the liability ? And who is paying for the additional repairs or structural issues that Wallace claimed. So Wallace and them was lying?
Deeks Well breds yuh on point ! Shamfa cudjoe is speaking from both sides of her mouth ! She is sworn by an oath to uphold her duties impartially , she clearly hasn't done so !
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While I understand the complexities of this case, Shamfa should be on TTFA side. Wallace did not do anything wrong other than report some deficiencies in the facility. Rightly so. So Hadad and the govt saying the place is ready. So I guess the Fire Services wrong about the assessment of the place. Who is paying the liability ? And who is paying for the additional repairs or structural issues that Wallace claimed. So Wallace and them was lying?
deeks i would like you to listen to live interviews and sound bites instead of relying on the news articles which outside of liburd’s articles are filled with misinformation.
in a news briefing I heard the PM stated he was in touch with the fire service and the relevant authorities and was working with them to bring the HOF up to standard, which means that it was acknowledged that the facility was indeed unprepared to be occupied, but you must remember the government could get things expedited especially in a time of crisis.
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While I understand the complexities of this case, Shamfa should be on TTFA side. Wallace did not do anything wrong other than report some deficiencies in the facility. Rightly so. So Hadad and the govt saying the place is ready. So I guess the Fire Services wrong about the assessment of the place. Who is paying the liability ? And who is paying for the additional repairs or structural issues that Wallace claimed. So Wallace and them was lying?
deeks i would like you to listen to live interviews and sound bites instead of relying on the news articles which outside of liburd’s articles are filled with misinformation.
in a news briefing I heard the PM stated he was in touch with the fire service and the relevant authorities and was working with them to bring the HOF up to standard, which means that it was acknowledged that the facility was indeed unprepared to be occupied, but you must remember the government could get things expedited especially in a time of crisis.
Thanks for the info. But the way things are being put out there, even before Shamfa news conference, was that nothing was wrong the the socalled HOF and Wallace and was on a witch hunt. I wonder if Wallace had gone to the govt to help defray the cost to finish the HOF and fast-track the fire codes, I wonder what Shamfa would have said to him. Pull, I listen to some of the news briefings on WACK. I did not hear the part pertaining to the the HOF.
But in this time of crisis, I am glad the govt has stepped in to use the facility. And as you said they can expedite all the deficiencies by the flick of a switch. They throw Wallace under the bus though.
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While I understand the complexities of this case, Shamfa should be on TTFA side. Wallace did not do anything wrong other than report some deficiencies in the facility. Rightly so. So Hadad and the govt saying the place is ready. So I guess the Fire Services wrong about the assessment of the place. Who is paying the liability ? And who is paying for the additional repairs or structural issues that Wallace claimed. So Wallace and them was lying?
deeks i would like you to listen to live interviews and sound bites instead of relying on the news articles which outside of liburd’s articles are filled with misinformation.
in a news briefing I heard the PM stated he was in touch with the fire service and the relevant authorities and was working with them to bring the HOF up to standard, which means that it was acknowledged that the facility was indeed unprepared to be occupied, but you must remember the government could get things expedited especially in a time of crisis.
Thanks for the info. But the way things are being put out there, even before Shamfa news conference, was that nothing was wrong the the socalled HOF and Wallace and was on a witch hunt. I wonder if Wallace had gone to the govt to help defray the cost to finish the HOF and fast-track the fire codes, I wonder what Shamfa would have said to him. Pull, I listen to some of the news briefings on WACK. I did not hear the part pertaining to the the HOF.
But in this time of crisis, I am glad the govt has stepped in to use the facility. And as you said they can expedite all the deficiencies by the flick of a switch. They throw Wallace under the bus though.
ill tell you what, I have no position on the government or Wallace, but what I can tell you is that the football community is who threw WW under the bus, in fact they tied him and let the bus rollover him. everyone so far who has weighed in from Dwight yorke to brain williams to st claire has all sided with FIFA and I want to believe that the fat boss is on friendly terms with all those guys.
I say so because when we were running ragged under Dennis lawrence and his employer none of these guys had anything to say, in fact they all had laryngitis, now that the administration has changed then suddenly everyone regained their voice and somehow has something to say in favor of FIFA? they need to get off it.
as far as I can see I got the sense that the government really tries to stay away from football because of the stigma that is attached to both with jack and david. I’m telling you from what I’ve witnessed dr rowley did not trust DJW and worst yet jack warner, and he wanted nothing to do with financing football because of the lack of transparency in the former ttfa under DJW.
In case you didn’t know, rowley and raymond timkee were not only friends but they were also party affiliates, it was rowley who made timkee major by choosing him to represent the party, and rowley supported timkee 200%, but timkee died right after the election so the ttfa was very unlucky in that regard because their pathway to govt funding was severed.
I’m here listening to everybody trying to put the government in the stew even when they don’t know nor do they closely follow current affairs in trinbago, yet they talk as if they have a front row seat to the precedings.
going to trinidad as often as I do now i’ve made friends with some government insiders who knows the deal and informed me that the prime minister is a sport lover contrary to what others might think, and he’s particularly crazy over cricket and wasn’t very happy with the way football was mishandled (men’s women’s children’s) under fat boy’s tenure and showed interest in supporting the untied ttfa, but wanted to stay very clear of fifa because of the way they did business.
WW on the other hand waited too long and never reached out to the government until he ran into trouble with FIFA, I know he means well but he was supposed to fix that HOF and got on with the business. I knew he also thought he had all the time in the world to get things done, but as an act of good faith he should’ve reach out to the MOS at least and lay out his concerns, oh well. he definitely missed out on an opportunity to work with the government.
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WW on the other hand waited too long and never reached out to the government until he ran into trouble with FIFA, I know he means well but he was supposed to fix that HOF and got on with the business. I knew he also thought he had all the time in the world to get things done, but as an act of good faith he should’ve reach out to the MOS at least and lay out his concerns, oh well. he definitely missed out on an opportunity to work with the government.
I agree with you on that. But still there is the 50 million to eradicate. The HOF was supposedly finished. Now he has to find another set of money to fix the HOF.
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This whole situation I do think could have been handled so much better with all the parties reaching out to each other collectively / in more unified manner! Now that being said hindsight is 20/20 , I still believe Fifa's approach in addressing the issues concerning ttfa debt as well as other related issues comes across as too heavy handed , as well as not respectful of duly elected ttfa administration , don't you think a better way was to work together with the then William Wallace administration with their Fifa's guidance in good faith I'm sure none of us will have a problem that ! As for mr William Wallace not seeking government / business contacts assistance early enough in order to get the outstanding issues concerning the HOF taken care of , I really don't know what say , but only mr Wallace can address that , I guess that's a topic for next day . Let me just say am happy to know the HOF will be operational soon ! Kudos to that
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This whole situation I do think could have been handled so much better with all the parties reaching out to each other collectively / in more unified manner! Now that being said hindsight is 20/20 , I still believe Fifa's approach in addressing the issues concerning ttfa debt as well as other related issues comes across as too heavy handed , as well as not respectful of duly elected ttfa administration , don't you think a better way was to work together with the then William Wallace administration with their Fifa's guidance in good faith I'm sure none of us will have a problem that ! As for mr William Wallace not seeking government / business contacts assistance early enough in order to get the outstanding issues concerning the HOF taken care of , I really don't know what say , but only mr Wallace can address that , I guess that's a topic for next day . Let me just say am happy to know the HOF will be operational soon ! Kudos to that
The timing is impeccable...
Corruption probe, dismissal of WW and team, colonial esque takeovers to cover up corruption, install puppet, then fix HOF in time of crisis for great PR and to sweep any corruption under the rug, while pretending to remain neutral and unbiased
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This whole situation I do think could have been handled so much better with all the parties reaching out to each other collectively / in more unified manner! Now that being said hindsight is 20/20 , I still believe Fifa's approach in addressing the issues concerning ttfa debt as well as other related issues comes across as too heavy handed , as well as not respectful of duly elected ttfa administration , don't you think a better way was to work together with the then William Wallace administration with their Fifa's guidance in good faith I'm sure none of us will have a problem that ! As for mr William Wallace not seeking government / business contacts assistance early enough in order to get the outstanding issues concerning the HOF taken care of , I really don't know what say , but only mr Wallace can address that , I guess that's a topic for next day . Let me just say am happy to know the HOF will be operational soon ! Kudos to that
who was giveing him money for that ... He said to repair/finish HOF cost in the millions remember. So this covid situation benefit the ttfa .. BTW TTFA getting money now or the HOF is being used free of charge ?
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This whole situation I do think could have been handled so much better with all the parties reaching out to each other collectively / in more unified manner! Now that being said hindsight is 20/20 , I still believe Fifa's approach in addressing the issues concerning ttfa debt as well as other related issues comes across as too heavy handed , as well as not respectful of duly elected ttfa administration , don't you think a better way was to work together with the then William Wallace administration with their Fifa's guidance in good faith I'm sure none of us will have a problem that ! As for mr William Wallace not seeking government / business contacts assistance early enough in order to get the outstanding issues concerning the HOF taken care of , I really don't know what say , but only mr Wallace can address that , I guess that's a topic for next day . Let me just say am happy to know the HOF will be operational soon ! Kudos to that
who was giveing him money for that ... He said to repair/finish HOF cost in the millions remember. So this covid situation benefit the ttfa .. BTW TTFA getting money now or the HOF is being used free of charge ?
fifa offered it for free and the government grabbed it and ran with it. I guess it’s an even trade with the amount of money needed to bring the place up to code, but I seriously doubt if it was that expensive to bring it up to code, ay etc he was talking about making additional features to the place like a gym and a fitness pool, but I can’t see repairing an elevator shaft, fire exits and commercial insurance costing that much.
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There is a lot of muddying of water taking place, but I don't anticipate that lasting much longer.
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FIFA, T&T government versus TTFA?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
William Wallace, what have you done? In local jargon, “like you kill priest or what?”
Poor Wally must have thought that he was just fighting the Incredible Hulk only to realise in the past week or so that he has come up against Superman, Iron Man and Batwoman, especially, flexing her muscles and warning him not to play games.
Wow! you may say. Just when you thought you’d seen it all.
Here we are again, the ex-executive of the TTFA (T&T Football Association) and this normalisation committee. The movie continues with more characters added into the script. Let me once again state I have no issue with the concept of FIFA’s normalisation committee entering any member association.
What I have a problem with is how it was done to the TTFA and the timing of the action by the star of the movie - FIFA. I will not state the obvious why FIFA brought this normalization committee onboard after their president was here to open the ‘Home of Football’ (Couva).
It is interesting to note that some former national footballers such as Dwight Yorke and Carlos Edwards are in support of the normalisation committee. I am not surprised at this stance as when you speak with so many of our athletes in various sporting disciplines, they complain bitterly about administrators and, in their view, their seeming quest for power and failure to adequately look after their welfare. This bears no difference in football.
I am sure we remember the fight our Soca Warriors had to endure after they returned from Germany back in 2006. I expect the ‘new’ ex-executive of the TTFA without having been given a decent chance to prove themselves would be lumped in that category.
I also read a letter to the Guardian Sports Editor last Sunday from Earl 'Ballhog" Jean who signed the piece as “Football coach” pleading with Wallace and company that “...good sense ought to prevail”. Only on checking his credentials, I realised he is the football coach of W Connection of which the former president of TTFA has a significant interest. The thing is when football was on the downward slide with money being thrown away and the debt increasing exponentially from $15 Million to $50 Million, where were these voices? Suddenly they have sprung to life.
Mr Wallace and his executive shut down the ‘Home of Football’ because it did not meet certain statutory requirements but in just one week and with a small army of private sector companies, the facility’s wellness centre is ready for use at no cost to the TTFA.
Now, I am overjoyed because the virus we are fighting here is a killer and anything anyone can do to save a fellow human being's life must be applauded. But one must ask the question: why couldn’t William Wallace get the job done and bring the building up to scratch and have it ready for use?
It’s been widely publicised by the ex-TTFA executive that the building was unfit for use. This is after the building was masqueraded behind a grand opening with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, T&T’s Prime Minister, Minister of Sports and other dignitaries in attendance. Everyone walked around with big smiles, handshakes, hugs and kisses and then have the audacity to close the building.
The strange thing is not a word from no one. How come none of the dignitaries questioned the closure of the building? More than that, to me this was not only a black mark against the TTFA but T&T as we took FIFA’s money, had an opening and it was then shut down with seemingly no questions asked.
It is alleged that Wallace had put through several calls to the Minister of Sports after the TTFA elections in November 2019 and she never returned any. Now, surely, even if she was uninterested in his football plans, she must have cared about the ‘Home of Football’.
Unfortunately, things are not making sense to me.
All it would have taken is a return call to get the relevant statutory agencies involved and the facility would have been up and running since January, so why didn’t they offer to fix it before? I also read where the Minister of Sports admitted FIFA had briefed the T&T government of its impending action, before dissolving the TTFA and imposing a normalisation committee.
What is even more startling, the Minister of Sports said, “I am yet to meet with the new head of the body, which FIFA has put in charge but I expect to do so in the next week or so”.
Yet a democratically elected board for over three months, she never once met with its head. The Minister ultimately distanced herself from the story and she also claimed that Wallace never reached out to her and only did so about two weeks before the normalization committee was appointed, and insisting she was neutral about the tussle between FIFA and TTFA.
Strangely enough, the Minister says all of a sudden the TTFA wants protection from FIFA and points out that two years ago, there was an issue with the women’s national senior team and they asked for the Ministry’s intervention. She was told that she should not be in the meeting as TTFA reports to FIFA. Were those Wallace’s words two years ago?
You see, just like you, I long to get off this roller coaster. All I want is what’s best for T&T football.
Thanks to CNC3, I recently relived one of my life’s most cherished moments - a trip to Bahrain to do commentary on our eventual victory to seal World Cup qualification.
It hurts to see what is happening to T&T football off the field. A democratically elected body after three months in office being hounded out by an organisation seeking its agenda and our people in T&T playing a mischievous political game to assist that body with their political aspirations.
Wallace, you will do well to remember King Austin sang “No one can deny, the price of progress is high”.
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Collin Murray I agree with you, in fact we all agree with you but please do not toss the government into this stew. I do agree earl jean, sancho, Carlos, Brian Williams, Dwight york, russel latapy, bertile at claire and the rest of the chorus has been very one sided on this issue, but to insinuate that our government is willing to assist fifa to mangle football in this country for fifa own gain is ridiculous.
I believe that shamfa and Wallace did not meet because they wanted the fat boss to win election, i believe they just didn’t get together since that’s very possible due to the fact that reaching a government minister on the phone could be a very daunting task, but wallace had the option to walk in the ministry and set up an appointment, simple.
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I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but the political players do NOT get a pass. They did what they did out of conviction, convenience and perceived interest.
Just as nature conceptually abhors a vacuum, so too does naivete lead to unrecognized consequences. Bear in mind that "political" and "governmental" are not synonymous but they share "messengers" and beneficiaries.
Football won't die but the battle for the spoils will be brutal. (Just in case anyone honestly/mistakenly anticipates a coming period of unbridled prosperity ... and tranquility.)
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No, William
T&T Express
Businessman and former club owner Arthur Suite is urging ousted Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace to call off legal action against FIFA for sidelining him and his executive.
“Sorry, Mr William Wallace. I have tried very hard but have failed to come up with a reason that I can support your actions to oppose FIFA’s appointment of a “normalisation committee”, Suite wrote in an open letter yesterday.
In his letter, Suite was clear in his view that FIFA was not the enemy.
“Sorry, Mr Wallace, but your fight is not against FIFA but the state of the bankrupt TTFA that you inherited,” he wrote.
In the late 1970s and early ‘80s Suite, the owner of Aviation Services Limited, was the driving force behind the establishment of the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Soccer League, an attempt at professional football that was shortlived.
In his letter, Suite suggested that Wallace’s team would lose their case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Noting that the Act of Parliament granted the TTFA the right to regulate and control football in the country under FIFA, he argued that in so doing, it surrendered all the TTFA’s rights to the world body.
Suite also described the local FA as bankrupt, with a debt of approximately US$5.5 million that it is unable to liquidate. He added, “...and as such, this debt affects TTFA’s ability to operate on a daily/monthly basis without one of its creditors seeking and obtaining judgment against the TTFA and the threat of one of its creditors foreclosing on the TTFA. This could be a major embarrassment, not only to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago but to FIFA as well.”
The TTFA’s current debt actually lies in the vicinity of US$7 million.
Suite stated it was well known that the TTFA’s financial state was not created by Wallace and his executive but he added that no one knew how Wallace intended to liquidate the organisation’s massive debt.
The former football promoter then raised the question of whether it was more than that debt that prompted FIFA to move against Wallace and his executive.
“Was there such an insurmountable problem after the official opening of this joint venture, ‘Home of Football Hotel’ between FIFA and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago that caused the closure of this Football Hotel immediately after Mr Wallace was elected into office?” he asked.
“Could Mr Wallace not have fixed this problem quietly, quickly and peacefully in order to save any embarrassment to (the) FIFA president, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Sport and the former president of TTFA who attended the official opening of the Hotel?” Suite continued, adding: “It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Suite added:”TTFA is totally dependent on finances from FIFA and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and as such the TTFA cannot be disrespectful at any time to FIFA or the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.”
He urged the Wallace-led executive to withdraw its action, accept change and “do what is best” for the country’s football.
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“Could Mr Wallace not have fixed this problem quietly, quickly and peacefully in order to save any embarrassment to (the) FIFA president, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Sport and the former president of TTFA who attended the official opening of the Hotel?”
Suite continued, adding: “It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Yes Arthur. You identify the real victims in all of this. Brilliant.
Steups, fack outta here with this garbage
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“Could Mr Wallace not have fixed this problem quietly, quickly and peacefully in order to save any embarrassment to (the) FIFA president, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Sport and the former president of TTFA who attended the official opening of the Hotel?”
Suite continued, adding: “It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Yes Arthur. You identify the real victims in all of this. Brilliant.
Steups, fack outta here with this garbage
:thumbsup:
They does keep pulling yuh back in, eh ? :devil:
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Collin Murray I agree with you, in fact we all agree with you but please do not toss the government into this stew. I do agree earl jean, sancho, Carlos, Brian Williams, Dwight york, russel latapy, bertile at claire and the rest of the chorus has been very one sided on this issue, but to insinuate that our government is willing to assist fifa to mangle football in this country for fifa own gain is ridiculous.
I believe that shamfa and Wallace did not meet because they wanted the fat boss to win election, i believe they just didn’t get together since that’s very possible due to the fact that reaching a government minister on the phone could be a very daunting task, but wallace had the option to walk in the ministry and set up an appointment, simple.
Your head hard boy...
You in bed with the govt? You stand to get some contract or money under the table?
Is that why Murray shouldn't talk about the complicity of TT govt in all of this?
I'm trying to understand your motivation for continuously shutting down anyone who makes a connection to our corrupt govt locally...
Even when presented with facts, you sidestep, what is your story?
I bet if I dig deep as to who you really are we will find out why you so adamant to defend this govt...
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“Could Mr Wallace not have fixed this problem quietly, quickly and peacefully in order to save any embarrassment to (the) FIFA president, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Sport and the former president of TTFA who attended the official opening of the Hotel?”
Suite continued, adding: “It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Yes Arthur. You identify the real victims in all of this. Brilliant.
Steups, fack outta here with this garbage
These men in the house, popping up everywhere..
I didnt realize TT had so many sell outs ... its glaring
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De question is, if a miracle happen and Wallace win, what will be his plan?
He have ZERO money.
We have no financial sponsorship especially with this coronavirus killing companies pockets.
Not sure if they lose de Avec contract.
FIFA will not give them yearly grant because it go be spite wok.
Why they just didn't hush they mouth, take de little they have, work with de minister of sports, fix de blasted hotel and get on with de wok.
This Robert Hadad fella have money?
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De question is, if a miracle happen and Wallace win, what will be his plan?
He have ZERO money.
We have no financial sponsorship especially with this coronavirus killing companies pockets.
Not sure if they lose de Avec contract.
FIFA will not give them yearly grant because it go be spite wok.
Why they just didn't hush they mouth, take de little they have, work with de minister of sports, fix de blasted hotel and get on with de wok.
This Robert Hadad fella have money?
Hadco received many life lines from the govt... those govt contracts have made these mediocre businessmen billionaires and worth a lot..
Can Hadad fund TT football through the govt? Yes he can
Will he be a puppet and controlled? Yes he will
Does that guarantee a progressive ttfa, no it doesn’t ... that is left to be seen, especially given the underhanded nature they used to seize power from a democratically elected board
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No, William
T&T Express
Businessman and former club owner Arthur Suite is urging ousted Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace to call off legal action against FIFA for sidelining him and his executive.
“Sorry, Mr William Wallace. I have tried very hard but have failed to come up with a reason that I can support your actions to oppose FIFA’s appointment of a “normalisation committee”, Suite wrote in an open letter yesterday.
In his letter, Suite was clear in his view that FIFA was not the enemy.
“Sorry, Mr Wallace, but your fight is not against FIFA but the state of the bankrupt TTFA that you inherited,” he wrote.
In the late 1970s and early ‘80s Suite, the owner of Aviation Services Limited, was the driving force behind the establishment of the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Soccer League, an attempt at professional football that was shortlived.
In his letter, Suite suggested that Wallace’s team would lose their case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Noting that the Act of Parliament granted the TTFA the right to regulate and control football in the country under FIFA, he argued that in so doing, it surrendered all the TTFA’s rights to the world body.
Suite also described the local FA as bankrupt, with a debt of approximately US$5.5 million that it is unable to liquidate. He added, “...and as such, this debt affects TTFA’s ability to operate on a daily/monthly basis without one of its creditors seeking and obtaining judgment against the TTFA and the threat of one of its creditors foreclosing on the TTFA. This could be a major embarrassment, not only to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago but to FIFA as well.”
The TTFA’s current debt actually lies in the vicinity of US$7 million.
Suite stated it was well known that the TTFA’s financial state was not created by Wallace and his executive but he added that no one knew how Wallace intended to liquidate the organisation’s massive debt.
The former football promoter then raised the question of whether it was more than that debt that prompted FIFA to move against Wallace and his executive.
“Was there such an insurmountable problem after the official opening of this joint venture, ‘Home of Football Hotel’ between FIFA and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago that caused the closure of this Football Hotel immediately after Mr Wallace was elected into office?” he asked.
“Could Mr Wallace not have fixed this problem quietly, quickly and peacefully in order to save any embarrassment to (the) FIFA president, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Sport and the former president of TTFA who attended the official opening of the Hotel?” Suite continued, adding: “It’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Suite added:”TTFA is totally dependent on finances from FIFA and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and as such the TTFA cannot be disrespectful at any time to FIFA or the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.”
He urged the Wallace-led executive to withdraw its action, accept change and “do what is best” for the country’s football.
I would like to read Arthur Suite's letter in the original, not merely excerpts. Someone post it nah.
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Suite selling out now?
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De question is, if a miracle happen and Wallace win, what will be his plan?
He have ZERO money.
We have no financial sponsorship especially with this coronavirus killing companies pockets.
Not sure if they lose de Avec contract.
FIFA will not give them yearly grant because it go be spite wok.
Why they just didn't hush they mouth, take de little they have, work with de minister of sports, fix de blasted hotel and get on with de wok.
This Robert Hadad fella have money?
my point exactly sam. Wallace should have known better than to show his cards together with his side kick look loy who was fighting with sancho, fighting with fenwick making and news every week for bull crap.
they should have known when that fat bore pig left the HOF steaming like a pressure cooker after his defeat that they weren’t gonna see the last of him, and sure enough his fat ugly hoofs are written all over this action by FIFA. Wallace made a lot of bad moves, I’m still supporting him though.
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Suite selling out now?
thats what you call it, I thought it was the national past time in la trinity to sell your soul for bread and water?just look at all the most influential peop,e in the foot all world who came out the wood work to support fifa over this move. I wonder if they would have supported FIFA if they had done this to DJW? just saying.
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FIFA: Normalisation committee chosen through ‘interviews’
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).
THE WORLD’S governing body for football – FIFA – said the members of the normalisation committee it appointed to the TT Football Association (TTFA) were chosen through a “series of interviews.”
On March 17, FIFA announced the committee was appointed owing to the TTFA’s “low financial management methods” and “a massive debt.”
T&T is not the first to have such an appointment, with countries like Ghana, Argentina, Guyana, Greece, Uruguay, Egypt and many others having experienced this type of intervention by FIFA.
The decision follows article 8:2 of FIFA’s statutes which states, “Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.”
But the article does not indicate how these committee members are chosen.
At the head is businessman Robert Hadad as chairman, with Judy Daniel as his deputy and Nigel Romano as a member.
In response to an e-mail, FIFA spokesperson Thayssa Plum told Newsday, “The members of a Normalisation Committee are chosen through a series of interviews with different candidates. In this case, the interviews were conducted by delegates from FIFA and Concacaf. During that process, it is ensured that the members that compose the Normalisation Committee have different profiles, perform their duties with neutrality and gather the necessary competencies to temporarily lead the federation in question.
“In line with the FIFA governance regulations, all members of the normalisation committee are subject to an eligibility check, and none of its members are eligible for any of the open positions in the elections under any circumstances.”
But the article also does not indicate or define what “exceptional circumstances” are.
Many of the other countries who have had such intervention were revealed to have corruption within their football associations. And in T&T’s case – financial woes.
Asked for clarity on this, Plum referred Newsday to FIFA’s initial press release on the appointment of the committee. She pointed out the quote, “The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to T&T to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
FIFA had previously indicated the committee will consist of five members in total, and that it would “appoint two more members in the coming days.” No further announcements have since been made.
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Time for CFU Solidarity and stand-up for TTFA
T&T Guardian
FIFA (world football's governing body) for the sport ousted the four-month-old, democratically-elected executive body of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, led by President William Wallace, on March 17, 2020, and replaced it with a Normalizing Committee, ten days later. This action has far-reaching implications and eventually dire consequences for Caribbean football. The dictatorial action by FIFA against a CFU (Caribbean Football Union) member without consulting the Caribbean regional body reveals the absolute lack of respect for and a condescending attitude towards the region's football administrators. Those who believe that this FIFA move is a one-off situation is myopic and had better think again.
FIFA's action against Trinidad and Tobago stemmed from relatively moot reasons; the main charge was that the four-month-old Wallace executive body had no proper debt relief plan in place for the reportedly TT$50 million debt inherited from the previous administration led by David John-Williams, who campaigned for the recently-elected FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The Wallace group's actions in office pale in comparison to the performance of the previous administration.
Thanks to the John-Williams administration, Trinidad and Tobago football is now nothing short of a calamity; the once Caribbean powerhouse Soca Warriors is now a debt-ridden organization that can't win a Gold Cup contest. The signature achievement - Home of Football - was inoperable until the government recently made improvements for it to host COVID-19 quarantine victims and use it as a step-down facility. FIFA bias is prevalent in this fiasco!
The world body's actions could lead to dictated leaderships in the region in the future, with very limited autonomy for CFU member associations.
Here is an analogy of FIFA's action that hits home: someone comes into your house, accuses your child of wrongdoing and without your consultation, proceeds to severely punish that child in your presence and neither you nor anyone else in your household could defend your child; neither you nor anyone else in your family could even render a word as to the extent of the punishment or even to suggest a form of discipline in the matter.
This is a weak household with no love in that family. This weak house will eventually crumble!
CFU, where's the love among the family? Where's the strength in the household? Where is the pride? Where is the solidarity?
CFU was virtually absent in this fiasco because we can't answer the aforementioned questions. CFU should have been in the position to strongly influence FIFA's decision; we should have demanded that FIFA act in good faith and instruct its Normalization Committee to work with the newly-elected executive body to develop a plan to solve the debt problem and review the statues and meet other FIFA suggestions. This would have allowed the legally elected William Wallace administration the time to work through the calamity it faced, to kick-start Trinidad and Tobago football. Sentiment would have favoured FIFA. Instead, FIFA's embarrassment of Trinidad and Tobago is an affront to the entire Caribbean; this is a portend.
Caribbean football administrators have to get their house in order and there is no better opportune time than now.
CFU president, Randy Harris, must show strong leadership instead of a defeatist attitude; he must cultivate Caribbean solidarity and remind FIFA that our collective 25 votes could determine the FIFA presidency; CONCACAF will also get the message (Past CFU administrators have discouraged CFU block voting, which is a mistake).
The only thing FIFA respects is the power of the vote, and we are 25-votes strong, and we must wield this power every four years. Our vote is the only strong leverage that we have to ensure progress in our football until we can consistently beat the top CONCACAF teams and send at least two Caribbean teams to every World Cup. With success comes power!
Caribbean Solidarity is the only way that we will control our destiny! Solidarity means to forgo the complacency caused by FIFA funds and take on initiatives to do for ourselves, guard our autonomy and have the ability to survive FIFA recriminations and consequences. CFU must find ways to finance its tournaments at every level and with every gender; we should constantly seek corporate funding for progress and not settle only for the provisions of CONCACAF. We're in a lull because of the Nations Cup tournament, a good competition, but more games do not translate to more opportunities for major tournaments like the Gold Cup and World Cup.
Let's not be fooled. We must wake up and realize that this FIFA/CONCACAF supported action is an attempt to make minimizing CFU appear to be inadvertent! Today, Trinidad and Tobago, tomorrow, who? CFU must support our family member, Trinidad and Tobago, today, tomorrow support another!
A show of solidarity will send a message to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) and the rest. We must begin to assert ourselves to have a say in CONCACAF; we have the COLLECTIVE vote. Let's remember how Jack Warner became powerful in world football.
Our history is one of struggle against colonialism; the struggle must continue against neo-colonialism. Solidarity is our only hope for progress.
Editor's Note
Patrick Horne, who resides in New York, is an author, sports administrator and football coach.
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TTFA staff desperate
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
US$1.25 million in financial relief is coming to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association this week and staff are desperate for it, but an obstacle is presented by the legal wrangle for control of the Association’s assets between the ousted executive, led by president William Wallace, and the Robert Hadad-chaired FIFA normalisation committee.
This week, the TTFA stands to receive its full 2020 allotment after FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed on Friday it would release emergency funding to all its 211 member associations. The money will be emergency relief against the Covid-19 pandemic that has ground sport worldwide to a halt.
With month’s end coming, TTFA General secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, who is working with the normalisation committee at FIFA’s request, yesterday highlighted the immediate need for financial relief. TTFA office staff have not received salary in two months and technical staff, even longer.
“Now that it is official, they (staff) have started calling me,” Ramdhan stated. “A lot of them had been calling me since day before yesterday.”
FIFA had withheld TTFA funding, due in January, while it probed concerns it had within the TTFA. Following its probe, FIFA intervened in the running of Trinidad and Tobago football, presumably through its US$7m debt situation, and appointed a normalisation committee after deposing the TTFA executive. The ousted executive is fighting FIFA’s intervention through an appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
Yesterday, Hadad did not respond to either telephone call or WhatsApp message as the Express sought comment. Ramdhan, however, feels a burden will be lifted if they can get some money to staff.
“I will like the staff to be paid. The technical staff as well,” stated the former FIFA referee who through his own initiative, borrowed money to pay salaries the last time staff received money, which was at the end of February.
“I went out of my way to pay the staff because I understand the need for money to help their families. I also wrote the technical staff a letter to be a little more patient until our funding came through,” Ramdhan declared.
Hadad has several times in the past also highlighted an urgent need to pay salaries and Ramdhan revealed he had already furnished him with contracts for staff and technical staff. Now, in the midst of a legal wrangle for control of the TTFA accounts listed with First Citizens Bank, there is the hint that because it is FIFA money, they will likely deposit the money in a new local banking account which their normalisation committee chairman Hadad can access.
“All I can say is, if we can’t use the accounts then we can’t get the money, and then plan B should be an alternative account,” Ramdhan said, adding, “especially in the interest of the staff at this time because the staff will be the biggest commitment we have, apart from debt.”
Ramdhan revealed that he had received a FIFA email informing of Infantino’s plans as early as two weeks ago.
“They did indicate they will send all the money. Normally, we would receive it in two disbursements - one in January and one in July,” he explained. “FIFA’S decision is to send the entire thing because they appreciated that without football being played, there will be no income from gates from football; match fees from friendly internationals. They appreciate that we would need money to keep going in these serious times.”
A FIFA release issued yesterday stated that as part of the measure, all remaining entitlements of member associations to operational costs under the Forward 2.0 Programme will be released in full for the years 2019 and 2020. In particular, the release of the second instalment of operational costs for 2020, which was originally due in July, will be paid immediately. Under normal circumstances, FIFA’s member associations would have only received the full amount of the contribution upon fulfillment of specific criteria, which have now been waived.
President Infantino said it was FIFA’s duty to support those experiencing severe financial distress.
“This is the first step of a far-reaching financial relief plan we are developing to respond to the emergency across the whole football community. Together with our stakeholders, we are assessing the losses and we are working on the most appropriate and effective tools to implement the other stages of this relief plan.”
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TTFA staff desperate
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
US$1.25 million in financial relief is coming to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association this week and staff are desperate for it, but an obstacle is presented by the legal wrangle for control of the Association’s assets between the ousted executive, led by president William Wallace, and the Robert Hadad-chaired FIFA normalisation committee.
This week, the TTFA stands to receive its full 2020 allotment after FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed on Friday it would release emergency funding to all its 211 member associations. The money will be emergency relief against the Covid-19 pandemic that has ground sport worldwide to a halt.
With month’s end coming, TTFA General secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, who is working with the normalisation committee at FIFA’s request, yesterday highlighted the immediate need for financial relief. TTFA office staff have not received salary in two months and technical staff, even longer.
“Now that it is official, they (staff) have started calling me,” Ramdhan stated. “A lot of them had been calling me since day before yesterday.”
FIFA had withheld TTFA funding, due in January, while it probed concerns it had within the TTFA. Following its probe, FIFA intervened in the running of Trinidad and Tobago football, presumably through its US$7m debt situation, and appointed a normalisation committee after deposing the TTFA executive. The ousted executive is fighting FIFA’s intervention through an appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
Yesterday, Hadad did not respond to either telephone call or WhatsApp message as the Express sought comment. Ramdhan, however, feels a burden will be lifted if they can get some money to staff.
“I will like the staff to be paid. The technical staff as well,” stated the former FIFA referee who through his own initiative, borrowed money to pay salaries the last time staff received money, which was at the end of February.
“I went out of my way to pay the staff because I understand the need for money to help their families. I also wrote the technical staff a letter to be a little more patient until our funding came through,” Ramdhan declared.
Hadad has several times in the past also highlighted an urgent need to pay salaries and Ramdhan revealed he had already furnished him with contracts for staff and technical staff. Now, in the midst of a legal wrangle for control of the TTFA accounts listed with First Citizens Bank, there is the hint that because it is FIFA money, they will likely deposit the money in a new local banking account which their normalisation committee chairman Hadad can access.
“All I can say is, if we can’t use the accounts then we can’t get the money, and then plan B should be an alternative account,” Ramdhan said, adding, “especially in the interest of the staff at this time because the staff will be the biggest commitment we have, apart from debt.”
Ramdhan revealed that he had received a FIFA email informing of Infantino’s plans as early as two weeks ago.
“They did indicate they will send all the money. Normally, we would receive it in two disbursements - one in January and one in July,” he explained. “FIFA’S decision is to send the entire thing because they appreciated that without football being played, there will be no income from gates from football; match fees from friendly internationals. They appreciate that we would need money to keep going in these serious times.”
A FIFA release issued yesterday stated that as part of the measure, all remaining entitlements of member associations to operational costs under the Forward 2.0 Programme will be released in full for the years 2019 and 2020. In particular, the release of the second instalment of operational costs for 2020, which was originally due in July, will be paid immediately. Under normal circumstances, FIFA’s member associations would have only received the full amount of the contribution upon fulfillment of specific criteria, which have now been waived.
President Infantino said it was FIFA’s duty to support those experiencing severe financial distress.
“This is the first step of a far-reaching financial relief plan we are developing to respond to the emergency across the whole football community. Together with our stakeholders, we are assessing the losses and we are working on the most appropriate and effective tools to implement the other stages of this relief plan.”
Wth Ramdhan sell out as well?
Well, the progress really gone down the drain, if he turned against Wallace..
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Wallace wants to sign TTFA cheques
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Robert Hadad, head of the FIFA's normalisation committee, could have the final say on whether the staff of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) as well as the technical staff, could be paid by next week.
The staff of the TTFA has not been paid for March and April, and its general secretary had to borrow money to pay its salaries for February.
There is a legal wrangle between former president William Wallace and FIFA's Normalisation committee for the TTFA accounts. Attorney for Wallace, Matthew GW Gayle, in a second letter to TTFA bankers First Citizens Bank (FCB) on Thursday, gave the bank until today to respond to a request which was made last Monday after a letter was sent to the institution, three days earlier.
This latest development between the normalisation committee and the ousted football association's executive, which is headed by Wallace, means that the staff may have to wait much longer before they can be paid.
However, yesterday Wallace told Guardian Media Sports that he's willing to perform all his duties as TTFA president in the interest of ensuring the payment of staff from monies which the organisation is expecting from FIFA, the world governing body for the sport.
Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick are challenging FIFA over its March 27 appointment of the normalisation committee to run the affairs of T&T football, through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The former officers believe that handing over the TTFA accounts to the normalisation committee is an act of surrendering their challenge. Wallace's role for the payment of workers is one of a signatory, once all documentation has been prepared and signed by TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick.
The other signatory to the accounts is former general secretary Azaad Khan since new general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan did not officially receive the position as a signatory, following the United TTFA victory during the TTFA annual general meeting (AGM) on November 24, last year.
Wallace told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that he is willing to be a signatory to the payment of staff but was not willing to give up his power of being a signatory or change his signatories on the TTFA accounts.
FIFA recently announced that it was handing over grants to its member associations, particularly those in need of help during the current COVID-19 pandemic environment. It also announced that a FIFA Relief Fund will also be accessible to vulnerable member associations.
This means the embattled football association is in line to receive US$1.2 million (an estimated TT$6.7million), plus a CONCACAF US$160,000 grant, as well as an unknown amount for the relief fund once the parties (Hadad/FIFA and Wallace) can agree on how it can be done.
Payment of funds by FIFA is usually done on Wednesdays and Fridays, which means the sport's governing body can release the cheques by this week but office and technical staff members will have to wait for a further three to four days before monies can show up in their accounts.
Guardian Media Sports made calls to Hadad's phone but they went unanswered.
Guardian Media Sports then sent messages to Hadad which asked: "If he would consider an option by Wallace for the TTFA account to be used for the FIFA transfer of funds. Wallace has said he is willing to put his signature to sign off for payment of TTFA staff but was not willing to change his signatories, is that something you will consider?"
The message was read but Hadad did not respond.
Meanwhile, a member of the TTFA who wished to remain anonymous, said he believed it was a good proposal for Wallace to remain as a signatory to the account in the interest of the staff being paid.
He told Guardian Media Sports the situation is a workable one although FIFA can choose to wire the monies into Hadad's personal account if it did not want to use the signatories of the former executives. He noted that because it is unsure of how long the legal battle between TTFA and FIFA will take place, the staff members will be unable to take care of their families for an indefinite period.
There is another method that could work, but it would also cement the "colonial or protectorate" argument that they might not want to go down that road. But it would get the current coaches paid and allow cherry-picking of prioritizing debts in the short-term.
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Wallace wants to sign TTFA cheques
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
...
He told Guardian Media Sports the situation is a workable one although FIFA can choose to wire the monies into Hadad's personal account if it did not want to use the signatories of the former executives. He noted that because it is unsure of how long the legal battle between TTFA and FIFA will take place, the staff members will be unable to take care of their families for an indefinite period.
That eh happening --- unless FIFA is determined to undermine its position.
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As per last paragraph, I wondered’what is to prevent NC from opening their own FIFA acct totally managed by them’ ? Fighting for an already cleared out account that other creditors still have an opportunity to freeze and clear out is almost nonsensical. Don’t see why Mr Wallace thinks FIFA will put money in his controlled account now, especially now, when the wouldn’t even consider it before.
Honestly given all the freezing and seizures, it’s a good thing they didn’t.
2nd question: can creditors freeze and seize the NC account since they are supposedly taking over TTFA business.
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Wallace wants to sign TTFA cheques
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
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The other signatory to the accounts is former general secretary Azaad Khan since new general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan did not officially receive the position as a signatory, following the United TTFA victory during the TTFA annual general meeting (AGM) on November 24, last year.
Well, dahis a considerable fumble.
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As per last paragraph, I wondered’what is to prevent NC from opening their own FIFA acct totally managed by them’ ? Fighting for an already cleared out account that other creditors still have an opportunity to freeze and clear out is almost nonsensical. Don’t see why Mr Wallace thinks FIFA will put money in his controlled account now, especially now, when the wouldn’t even consider it before.
Honestly given all the freezing and seizures, it’s a good thing they didn’t.
2nd question: can creditors freeze and seize the NC account since they are supposedly taking over TTFA business.
You raise pertinent questions. That deposit is certain to occupy the attention of eagle-eyed counsel for the cast of creditors (the ones with judgements) at the probable expense of those who are merely unpaid but have pursued no protest via recourse to the courts. It's another indication that FIFA has mucked up its batting order despite being eager to face the new ball.
Under a certain assessment another account could be established providing expedient formalities can be met. However, the view that the account was set up to reach creditors who are lower in priority (time-driven) or to thwart/frustrate existing judgements could emerge in a quickness. Maybe then Infantino might realize some consequences of 'in the fullness of time.'
There is another method that could work, but it would also cement the "colonial or protectorate" argument that they might not want to go down that road. But it would get the current coaches paid and allow for some cherry-picking of prioritizing debts in the short-term. That would be guaranteed to keep Lasana busy for weeks.
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..........
There is another method that could work, but it would also cement the "colonial or protectorate" argument that they might not want to go down that road. But it would get the current coaches paid and allow for some cherry-picking of prioritizing debts in the short-term. That would be guaranteed to keep Lasana busy for weeks.
What's that seeker ? Direct payments ? what ? Ah doh want no headache over all this assness. I can hardly figure out why I even bothering at this time.
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..........
There is another method that could work, but it would also cement the "colonial or protectorate" argument that they might not want to go down that road. But it would get the current coaches paid and allow for some cherry-picking of prioritizing debts in the short-term. That would be guaranteed to keep Lasana busy for weeks.
What's that seeker ? Direct payments ? what ? Ah doh want no headache over all this assness. I can hardly figure out why I even bothering at this time.
Other than direct payment. Log-in.
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So FIFA's cabal appears to have taken over the twitter account and website now?
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FIFA seeks alternative banking measures away from FCB account
By Keith Clement (T&T Guardian)
To avoid a legal challenge in the local courts over the status of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) accounts, Guardian Media Sports has been reliably informed that the FIFA Normalisation Committee will be exploring other avenues where FIFA and CONCACAF can make funding accessible to it so the committee can carry out its responsibilities.
The source who spoke to us on Monday on the condition of anonymity said that apart from the current legal wrangle from former president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick - regarding the TTFA accounts held at the First Citizens Bank (FCB), FIFA is also ensuring that future deposits into the said account are not at risk of any garnishee order.
The source added that while the main and urgent objective at hand is to pay outstanding salaries to the TTFA staff, it is also mindful of other relating expenses to football operations that must take place.
The staff of the TTFA has not been paid for March and April, and its general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, who borrowed money to pay February salaries, also need to repay that debt soon.
Two weeks ago, Guardian Media Sports reported that the Normalisation Committee was seeking FIFA's assistance to ensure the salaries of the staff are being paid.
The source said that once the former president Wallace is a signatory to the FCB account of the TTFA then FIFA will not make any deposits to that account.
On Monday, Wallace sent a letter with the subject heading: Payment of salaries to staff.
The letter stated: "As you have no doubt heard, FIFA is now preparing to release funding to the TTFA that it has thus far refused to release before the purported appointment of the Normalisation Committee. For your peace of mind in these difficult times, I am writing to confirm that as soon as I am notified by the General Secretary and/or First Citizens Bank of the receipt of the monies from FIFA, I will take the necessary steps to ensure you are paid as owed."
When Guardian Media Sports contacted Robert Hadad, head of the FIFA Normalisation Committee on Monday he said, "I have no comment on the bank matter.
"However, the use of the TTFA letterhead by the former president is an illegal act and the next time he uses it, the Normalisation Committee will take legal action. It is a fraud. However, we wish to make it abundantly clear that at present no other persons are authorised to act on behalf of the TTFA. We trust that good sense will prevail to prevent an escalation of this matter but we are nevertheless in discussions with our attorneys to determine the best way to prevent the continuance of such unauthorised action."
Wallace had sent a letter to Stuart Young (MP) and Minister of National Security on April 16 regarding the government's accepting the use of the Home of Football in Couva and "has apparently entered into discussions with the Normalisation Committee led by Mr Robert Hadad, who is purportedly appointed by FIFA. The Constitution of the TTFA places the responsibility for negotiating and entering into any contracts or agreements on the President of the TTFA, a post I have held since the 24th November 2019."
The Home of Football is being used by the government in its fight of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Hadad said, "Those two acts are illegal. Mr Wallace is not authorised to use any instruments of the TTFA as of March 17 and he's not authorised to sign cheques. In my opinion, his actions while he has challenging FIFA's decision is designed to keep back the football from moving forward in T&T."
FCB closes accounts matter until CAS rules
Meanwhile, FCB responded to a second legal letter from the lawyers of Wallace on the deadline set on April 23 to do so.
Kendall Alexander, representing FCB pointed to Matthew GW Gayle, that (ii) "FIFA has appointed a Normalisation Committee and there has arisen a question as to the entitlement to certain accounts. (iii) Having regard to the current dispute which could involve assets held on trust, the Bank proposes to maintain the status quo by neither transferring any signatories on nor disclosing details on the TTFA’s accounts until there is either a determination in the arbitration, or there is a Court Order compelling the Bank to disclose certain information or take certain steps.
"To avoid any uncertainty on the Bank’s position, please note that given the on-going dispute, the Bank shall not permit any party (neither the TTFA nor the Normalisation Committee) to operate the accounts until the matter is settled and/or determined as set out above."
FCB has also denied that the Bank has not (to date) “handed over control” of the accounts to any third party and has no intention of doing same as set out in item (iii) above.
Upon hearing the news that the FIFA and CONCACAF are about to release funding of various kinds to its Member Federations which includes T&T on Sunday, Wallace told Guardian Media Sports that he's willing to perform all his duties as TTFA president by signing off the cheques.
The former officers believe that by handing over the TTFA accounts to the Normalisation Committee is an act of surrendering their challenge. Wallace's role for the payment of workers is one of a signatory, once all documentation has been prepared and signed by TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick.
The other signatory to the accounts is former general secretary Azaad Khan since new general secretary Ramdhan did not officially receive the position as a signatory, following the United TTFA victory during the TTFA annual general meeting (AGM) on November 24.
Wallace told Guardian Media Sports on Sunday that he is willing to be a signatory to the payment of staff but was not willing to give up his power of being a signatory or change his signatories on the TTFA accounts.
FIFA recently announced that it was handing over grants to its member associations, particularly those in need of help during the current COVID-19 pandemic environment. It also announced that a FIFA Relief Fund will also be accessible to vulnerable member associations.
This means the embattled football association is in line to receive US$1.2 million (an estimated TT$6.7million), plus a CONCACAF US$160,000 (an estimated TT$1,040,000) grant, as well as an unknown amount for the relief fund to the Normalisation Committee.
Wallace and his vice presidents Taylor, Phillips and Joseph-Warrick are challenging FIFA decision to remove them from office on March 17, and appointment of the Normalisation Committee on March 27 to run the affairs of T&T football, through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Yuh see it maxg?
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FIFA's crude and ruthless attack on TTFA.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Dear Editor,
The familiar crude and ruthless attempt by FIFA to install a 'Normalisation Committee' should be seen by all as, ironically, an attempt to normalise FIFA's corrupt culture in the TTFA. There is nothing benevolent about this move. Certainly, if this were the case, FIFA would have done that even before the Williams regime. This is nothing short of FIFA saying and demonstrating, in its normal autocratic and iron-fisted way, that it must be their man of business running the show. This is the way FIFA has controlled and corrupted football internationally for years, and we should not believe that recent charges, arrests and convictions have changed this 'Corona' culture.
What else can explain the illogical move? After years of doing the tango with the only person
to have become wealthy off football in this country. and another who has brought the Association to its knees over four years, the democratically elected officials are being removed after a measly four months, ostensibly to install proper financial management. Every Association internationally, particularly in the Caribbean, every Trinidad and Tobago National, every club, every footballer must wise up that this is FIFA saying 'you voted for the wrong man' In this connection, what then is the purpose of the TTFA's constitution? How do we build a properly run and managed institution, comprising of officials who have campaigned and won the confidence of those whom they represent, that would get us out of this tiresome situation of the association being run by FIFA party hacks and self-seekers? Those being appointed on the Normalisation Committee should become aware, that with the best of intentions, they are being used by FIFA to ensure that its tentacles remain securely lodged within the TTFA, to attempt to proliferate its corrupt culture. What better example do we have than in this very situation?
This is FIFA's Modus Operandi. It has been well ingrained and prevalent in the TTFA as it has been at international level. Get your own in at all costs. Successful efforts to remove this practice are now being challenged by FIFA, which is now virtually saying, 'if you were not smart enough to elect the right people we shall do it for you'
Let me make it clear, that I am not saying that the previous incumbent was corrupt; neither did he inherit a healthy situation. And I dare say that he used his best efforts to improve the Association and football on the whole in this country, having given personally by his substantial contributions to club football. Also, it appears, and may well be, that the Home of Football was part of his grand plan, with FIFA's help, to bring the TTFA out of the financial and cultural morass that his predecessors left it in. It is in this regard that it should be clear to the casual onlooker that his and FIFA's grand plan may well have been frustrated by the election of the new executive; also, that Mr Williams had made headway into the FIFA hierarchy and was favoured to be their man on the ground.
None of this, however, can justify FIFA's highhandedness, having not acted for years in this manner with the TTFA reeling, to come and in so short a space of time remove those ultimately democratically elected by the clubs they represent and who are and will always be the lifeblood of the association.
Many persons of high rank in this country have bowed to FIFA under the notion that you just cannot beat them. It is either you in or you out, if you want your country to play international football. It is, therefore, necessary to 'work with them” for the sake of football. That things like these are small issues. Small issue, maybe, but a much bigger principle. That of how we run our institutions and encourage those who altruistically wish to contribute to participate. It is the failure to recognise this that resulted in an Association after so many years being bankrupt of solid administrative and financial capability driven by collaborative professionalism and a vision for football in the long term. So, we now really have two Homes of Football.
Brian Ghent
Mandarin Drive
Haleland Park, Maraval
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TTFA Act of Parliament vs FIFA statutes.
By Keith Clement (Guardian).
Since FIFA's decision on March 17 to replace president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip as the executive of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) with a normalisation committee, lawyers representing the quartet have stated that only the TTFA constitution can remove them from an elected office, which is bound by an Act of Parliament (The Act 17 of 1982 which be cited as The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (Incorporation) Act, 1982).
In a video statement on April 1, on the former executive's crowdsourcing "gofundme" page, Wallace maintained that he is still in charge of the TTFA, saying: “To be clear I remain president of TTFA based on our constitution… I can only be removed by the operation of the TTFA’s constitution, not by FIFA.”
Wallace's lawyers Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne have pointed to that fact in letters dated March 20, 2020, addressed to Tyril Patrick and another from Wallace himself on April 16 to Stuart Young (MP) and Minister of National Security of T&T.
However, the sub item 3 of the Act states that the objectives of the TTFA:
The aims and objects of the Association are: (a) to regulate and control the conduct of Football in Trinidad and Tobago (under the Federation Internationale de Football Association system) and to provide playing fields and conveniences in connection therewith;
Accordingly, Article 2 (e) objectives of the TTFA constitution states: (e) to respect and prevent any infringement of the statutes, regulations, directives, and decisions of FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU, and TTFA as well as the Laws of the Game, and to ensure that these are also respected by its Members;
Continuing, Act item 4 states: The affairs of the Association shall be managed by a General Council whose election powers and procedures shall be as prescribed in the Constitution and Rules of the Association.
Article 7 Conduct of Bodies and Officials of the TTFA Constitution states: The bodies and Officials of TTFA must observe the statutes, regulations, directives, decisions, and the Code of Ethics of FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU and TTFA in their activities.
Attorney at Law Peter Taylor told Guardian Media Sports on Sunday, "So the Act 17 of 1982 effectively and formally clothed or incorporated the TTFA as a body corporate. An entity becomes a body corporate either by registering a company. So, for example, Happy Construction Limited becomes a body corporate with a legal personality by virtue of registering in accordance with the Companies Act and a minimum of two directors, a registered address, a secretary, etc.
"A body corporate can also be established, as in the case of the TTFA, by an Act of Parliament, hence we have Act 17 of 1982. So a body corporate is really any company or entity that has a distinct legal personality," said the former Minister of Legal Affairs.
"Any sporting body that receives government funding is answerable to the Parliament via its Line Minister, accounting officer, ie permanent secretary and/or the Sport Company and can be called to give an account of its stewardship."
He also pointed to items 4, 5 and 6 of the Act which speaks about the administration of the TTFA.
On Friday, businessman and former club owner Arthur Suite wrote in a daily newspaper: "Sorry, Mr William Wallace. I have tried very hard but have failed to come up with a reason that I can support your actions to oppose FIFA's appointment of a 'normalisation committee'.
"Your fight is not against FIFA but the state of the bankrupt TTFA that you inherited.
"Noting that the Act of Parliament granted the TTFA the right to regulate and control football in the country under FIFA, he argued that in so doing, it surrendered all the TTFA's rights to the world body."
Kenneth Butcher, a former Parliamentary Secretary for Sport in the NAR government in 1986 and a very active member in football, cricket and netball which is also enacted by an Act of Parliament, said that his understanding is that an Act of Parliament allows a sporting organisation to operate and function as a business entity and submit its annual audited financial statements to the Ministry of Sports for oversight.
Alvin Corneal, a former national footballer player and coach, who served as a former member of the 1972 Commission of Inquiry of Cricket for T&T under the chairmanship of Justice Evan Reese said, "I am very sympathetic with William Wallace and the TTFA but the TTFA constitution gives FIFA a right to act. The question is... is it justified? That's the concern."
On March 17, FIFA advised the TTFA that it is appointing a normalisation committee to take over the running of the heavily indebted association. However, despite protests from the executive, FIFA proceeded to name three members of the committee on March 27 including businessman Robert Hadad as the chairman, attorney Judy Daniel was named deputy chairman and retired banker Nigel Romano as a member.
In FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura's letter to TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, she pointed to article 8 paragraph 2 of the FIFA statutes as it outlined FIFA's concerns about the financial status of the TTFA. FIFA said its fact-finding mission (February 25-27) found, among other concerns, that the “overall condition of financial management and financial governance extremely low or non-existent at the TTFA".
FIFA stated there is a lack of documented policies and procedures, financial planning and management of statutory liabilities adding that there's no short or long-term plan to address the “urgent” situation as the current debt is US$5.5m (TT$37.4 million), the TTFA “faces a very real risk of both insolvency and illiquidity if corrective measures are not applied urgently.”
As such, the normalisation committee has been mandated to run the daily affairs of the TTFA, establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA as well as review and amend the TTFA statutes and ensure their compliance with FIFA statutes and requires before submitting them to the TTFA Congress for approval. The committee will also organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive for a four-year term.
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CAS starts process as bank denies Hadad, Wallace access to TTFA accounts
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed that a case brought by ousted executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association against the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is proceeding normally.
The Switzerland-based CAS was responding yesterday to a Trinidad Express enquiry on the state of the case.
“The arbitration procedure is in progress,” CAS stated. “The parties are exchanging written submissions and a panel of arbitrators is being constituted. Once appointed, the panel will issue directions with respect to the holding of a hearing.”
CAS also revealed that the TTFA executives’ appeal had been properly registered and would be placed on the case list once a likely three arbitrators are selected and a time for hearing has been established.
“This is to confirm that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered an appeal filed by Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick against FIFA.”
Wallace’s side-lined executive filed an appeal to CAS on Monday, April 6, objecting to FIFA’s intervention in T&T football. On March 17, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad to run the Association’s day to day affairs and also to formulate a plan to clear its massive US$7m debt.
Going under the name “United TTFA”, Wallace’s executives are using a fan-funded online petition to fight FIFA. However, an on-line gofundme account has been standing at US$3,920 for nearly a month now, though United TTFA have raised the $1,000 Swiss francs needed to begin the legal process.
Representing the deposed TTFA executives are attorneys Matthew GW Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne of the Port of Spain-based New City Chambers.
Contacted yesterday, Gayle said no date had yet been set to proceed and that a deadline had not yet been reached when FIFA had to present the major points of its defence to the appellant.
“Your source is as up to date as mine,” Gayle stated.
Meanwhile, Gayle could also not say whether any legal proceedings would be pursued against First Citizens Bank, which has had withheld access to the TTFA’s accounts.
“I have to get direction,” Gayle said, directing enquiries to Wallace, who did not respond to telephone calls yesterday.
With US$1.25 million in FIFA funding coming to the TTFA this week, both the Hadad-led normalisation committee and Wallace’s side-lined executive are jostling for control of the Association’s accounts. First Citizens Bank will not hand over control of those accounts until either side provides a court order indicating that it is the legitimate entity in charge of such.
Through its legal representatives, the bank said through its attorney: “Having regard to the current dispute which could involve assets held on trust, the bank proposes to maintain the status quo by neither transferring any signatories nor disclosing details on the TTFA’s accounts until there is either a determination in the arbitration, or there is a court order compelling the bank to disclose certain information or take certain steps.
“To avoid any uncertainty on the bank’s position, please note that given the on-going dispute, the bank shall not permit any party—neither the TTFA nor the normalisation committee— to operate the accounts until the matter is settled and/or determined as set out above.”
The bank’s latest position will less affect the normalisation committee, which a source assures will get the FIFA money to pay salaries and run the association’s business. The source said the normalisation committee has no need for either the First Citizens account or Wallace. The normalisation committee will do its own banking, allowing for FIFA to deposit the money, which is a gift from the governing body and not a TTFA entitlement.
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And there you have it. In that case, fine. And now, Hart put NC in check . But is he paranging the wrong house ?
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And there you have it. In that case, fine. And now, Hart put NC in check . But is he paranging the wrong house ?
Nah, he knocking on de right door.
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Well , well , well there it is ladies and gentlemen , Well boi that is bachannal ! Ah want to know what mister big shot appointee Robert Hadad have to say , now that mr Stephen hart has lay claims for his overdue monies owed to him !
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And there you have it. In that case, fine. And now, Hart put NC in check . But is he paranging the wrong house ?
Nah, he knocking on de right door.
Yeah, but it might not be Christmas time there (all the gifts Fifa SUPPOSED to be sending). Might have been best to announce after funds arrived. No ? Now, it might just be. "Due to current situation, eveything on hold".
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And there you have it. In that case, fine. And now, Hart put NC in check . But is he paranging the wrong house ?
Nah, he knocking on de right door.
Yeah, but it might not be Christmas time there (all the gifts Fifa SUPPOSED to be sending). Might have been best to announce after funds arrived. No ? Now, it might just be. "Due to current situation, eveything on hold".
Au contraire, the timing is favorable and opportune.
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And there you have it. In that case, fine. And now, Hart put NC in check . But is he paranging the wrong house ?
Nah, he knocking on de right door.
Yeah, but it might not be Christmas time there (all the gifts Fifa SUPPOSED to be sending). Might have been best to announce after funds arrived. No ? Now, it might just be. "Due to current situation, eveything on hold".
Au contraire, the timing is favorable and opportune.
Ok. Hoping a good result work out for everybody. I do mean everybody TT. (FA, NC, and all staff). The fiefdom always survives.
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Wallace to reconsider involvement in sport if association loses FIFA battle
CMC
Deposed president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace said Monday he would reconsider his involvement in the sport at the national level if he loses the court battle he is waging against football’s world governing body which replaced he and his team with a normalization committee last month.
Speaking on I95.5FM’s ISports radio show here, Wallace also made it clear he would not be giving any assistance to the committee which is headed by local businessman Robert Hadad.
In March, four months after TTFA’s elections, FIFA removed the executive because of what it said was financial mismanagement and appointed a normalization committee to take charge of operations. The TTFA has challenged the move at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland.
“If, at the end of the day, we go to the court and we are not successful at the court, at that point in time I would reconsider my position in terms of serving Trinidad and Tobago football. I would have to think about it – my continuing involvement in Trinidad and Tobago football at that level,” Wallace said, adding that he was unsure whether he would run for office again.
The former TTFA boss said that given the ongoing legal challenge, he would not be assisting the Hadad-led committee in carrying out its work.
When FIFA appointed the normalization committee, it said the body would have up to two years to carry out its work, during which time it would be mandated to create a debt repayment plan for the TTFA, review the local governing body’s statutes and ensure their adherence to FIFA regulations, and oversee new elections.
Wallace said that as far as he was aware, Hadad had been getting all the information he required.
He stressed, however, he would not be assisting in any way “at this point”.
“If I have a matter before the court, there is no way that I can…support anything that I am actually going up against. It just can’t work,” Wallace insisted.
“On one hand I’m saying it was wrong to set up a normalization committee, but on the other hand I’m helping the normalization committee in Trinidad and Tobago? That just wouldn’t make any sense, right?”
“It’s not a personal issue, it’s not a personal thing against Robert, or anybody as a matter of fact, and I will always support football, but we have a case and therefore we have to act the part,” Wallace added.
FIFA has insisted that its normalization committee remains the sole authority for football governance here.
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To be honest i can't speak for anyone else but as far as I am concern the manner in which all that has transpired thus far with Fifa's appointment of a normalisation committee is f$$ked up and outrageous to say the least ! Many of us want the best for trinbago football , but to support Fifa' s handling of the whole scenario is madness...... I can fully understand should mr Wallace by his choosing given all that's going on at the moment , to simply walk away , but not without standing his ground against Fifa . I can only imagine his frustration at moment! Mr Wallace yuh have my support all de way through just keeping real !
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FCB gets another deadline today with TTFA accounts
By Derek Achong (T&T Guardian)
The war of words between First Citizens Bank (FCB) and recent ousted executive members of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) over control of the organisation's bank account continued on Wednesday.
The battle, which has thus far been fought via a series of strongly-worded legal letters sent between attorneys for both parties, resumed yesterday as attorney Matthew Gayle, who is representing former TTFA president William Wallace and his executive team, sent a letter to FCB's attorney Kendell Alexander, yesterday morning.
In the letter, which was obtained by Guardian Media Sports, Gayle sought to respond to correspondence sent by Alexander on Monday (April 27).
Gayle questioned Alexander's decision to mention the executive team's pending proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over FIFA's decision to oust them and replace them with a Normalisation Committee chaired by businessman Robert Hadad on March 17.
In his letter, Alexander stated that the issue would be determined after the parties provide court documents over the resolution of the dispute between parties.
Describing the claim as regrettable as it was allegedly made without any reliable information on the ongoing dispute, Gayle said: "All that is relevant, so far as the relationship between my client and yours, is that the TTFA has an established means of electing its Executive Officers, as well as an established means for those officers to demit office."
He maintained that his clients were lawfully elected on November 24, last year, and had not demitted office since.
"Nowhere in my previous correspondence was there any express reference specifically to this body or the proceedings before CAS, which are confidential arbitral proceedings to which your client has no access to," Gayle said, as he accused the bank of attempting to be an informal arbiter between the parties.
Stating that FCB should have established policies to determine who properly controls TTFA's accounts, Gayle stated that there was no basis to "legitimately surmise that there has been a change in the status quo".
"Your client, therefore, would be in breach of its duties and obligations to my client should, as your letter tends to suggest, my client's executive be prevented in any way from accessing and operating the accounts in the name of my client," Gayle said, as he compared the situation to a hypothetical one involving allowing an unauthorised third party access.
Gayle also noted that his clients did not have access to its online banking service as alleged by Alexander and requested that the facility be restored.
Gayle gave the bank until 4 pm on Thursday to restore unfettered access to the accounts before he files a lawsuit on the issue.
Guardian Media Sports reported on Monday that since the dispute arose, FIFA and CONCACAF were exploring options to provide funding to the committee to run the organisation while avoiding litigation.
The source who spoke to us on Monday on the condition of anonymity said that apart from the current legal wrangle, FIFA is also seeking to ensure that future deposits into the said account are not at risk of any future garnishee order from the organisation's numerous creditors, as was done by former TTFA technical director Kendal Walkes on February 11 to recoup some of the over TT$5 million that is owed to him based on a court order in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
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Wallace defies legal threat uses TTFA letterhead
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
William Wallace, the ousted president of the T&T Football Association has disregarded a threat by FIFA's Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad to not use the football association's letterhead, by issuing a release using the TTFA's letterhead in a responding to Hadad.
Afterwards, he told Guardian Media Sports he will continue to function in his capacity of president of the TTFA, noting his legal representative will deal with everything else.
Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick were booted out of office on March 17, when the governing body for the sports globally FIFA decided to enforced Article 8.2 of its Statutes to appoint a normalisation committee on March 27 to manage local football.
Wallace and his team have since decided to challenge this through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne Switzerland. on Wednesday in a letter, however, Wallace said the accusation by Hadad is unfortunate and untrue. According to the local football boss: "I have read in one daily newspaper a quote attributed to the spokesman for the purported Normalization Committee appointed to manage the affairs of the Association, which accuses the democratically elected officers of the TTFA of "fraud" This is both unfortunate and untrue."
"Having been elected following a democratic election, which incidentally was conducted under the supervision of FIFA and CONCACAF, we remain in charge of the Association and the only persons authorised to use the TTFA stationary. While the TTFA remains an affiliate of FIFA, it does not have the power to remove the democratically elected Executive and usurp the running of the TTFA by decree."
"Thus the use of the TTFA stationary etc by FIFA’s normalisation committee is and remains unauthorised. This matter is presently before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Given the value that the TTFA places in the relationship with FIFA, we have chosen to submit to the jurisdiction of CAS. However, make no mistakes about it, unless and until CAS rules to the contrary, the duly elected executive remains in charge of TTFA. I, therefore, will continue to use the TTFA stationary, as necessary, to communicate with TTFA personnel and the general public."
The two parties (Wallace and Hadad) have also been embroiled in a legal battle for the use of the football association's accounts at First Citizens Bank, but the latter in a legal document on Monday denied both parties, saying it was unsure of whom had the right of ownership of the accounts. The bank, in a letter from its Attorney Kendell Alexander, said whoever wants access to the accounts must walk with a legal document as proof of ownership.
Its decision prompted an immediate response from Wallace through his attorney Matthew Gayle, who described the situation as regrettable.
But with the accounts needed for FIFA proposed injection of funds that represent its grants to member associations, as well as a Covid-19 Relief Funds, it is uncertain if Hadad would get it in time to pay office and technical staff salaries, among other things.
Hadad was last night expected to meet with members of the technical staff and it was expected that he was going to assure them salaries soon.
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Wallace wants access to TTFA's bank accounts restored.
By Jada Loutoo (Newsday).
EMBATTLED TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his executive have given the football body’s bankers, First Citizens Bank, until Thursday to restore their unfettered access to their accounts.
Attorneys for Wallace and his executive also want, by that date, for the bank “extricate itself from this most improper role” of appointing itself as “an informal arbiter” between them and the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee.
Attorney Mathew Gayle for the embattled TTFA executive wrote to the bank’s attorneys on Wednesday with the demands and threatened legal action if they do not respond.
Wallace and his team have been at loggerheads with the bank over its accounts.
Gayle said his clients have been unable to access the bank’s online facilities.
The executive was removed on March 17 by FIFA who in turn set up a normalisation committee due to mounting debts accumulated by the TTFA.
In a letter, on Monday, to the TTFA staff, Wallace wrote, “FIFA is now preparing to release funding to the TTFA that it has thus far refused to release prior to the purported appointment of the normalisation committee. “For your peace of mind in these difficult times, as soon as I am notified by the general secretary (Ramesh Ramdhan) and/or First Citizens of the receipt of the monies from FIFA, I will take the necessary steps to ensure you are paid as owed,” Wallace told staff.
Gayle, in his letter on Wednesday, told FCB’s attorneys it was regrettable that the bank has sought to insert itself in the ongoing dispute between Wallace and his team and FIFA.
He said the bank had “no legitimate or reliable source of the facts and progress of the dispute.”
“All that is relevant, so far as the relationship between my client and yours, is that the TTFA has an established means of electing its executive officers, as well as an established means for those officers to demit office,” he said, again pointing out that the executive was elected in November and have not demitted office.
Gayle said the bank ought to have established policies to decide who has proper control of the TTFA’s accounts.
He said there was no basis on which it could legitimately surmise that there has been a change in the status quo.
Gayle said the bank will be in breach of its duties and obligations to his client if the executive is prevented from accessing and operating the body’s accounts.
He also said the executive does not have full access to the TTFA’s bank account information. He also asked for bank statements and access to online banking facilities.
Gayle warned that the bank will be at fault if it fails to permit access to the accounts.
He said it appeared that the bank’s overriding concern was to protect itself from adverse publicity and not ensuring it maintained the fidelity and integrity of its relationship with the TTFA’s executive.
On Monday, businessman Robert Hadad, who was appointed chairman of the normalising committee, said Wallace and his executive had control of the bank account now and they will await the hearing of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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FIFA’s Safe Caribbean Home: ‘The Caribbean Is A Vote Farm For FIFA – They Don’t Care About Our Football’
By Louis Young (worldfootballindex.com)
In November 2019, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) democratically elected William Wallace as president, replacing David John-Williams.
Following a fact-finding mission into the operations of the TTFA, just four months into Wallace’s term, FIFA announced their decision to impose a normalisation committee which would run the TTFA’S daily affairs.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity,” said a FIFA statement.
“Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
One question directed towards FIFA following this action referred to their previous awareness of the TTFA’s financial woes, which have been public for many years. FIFA even froze the accounts of the previous administration, with David John-Williams as president, multiple times.
WFi‘s Louis Young spoke to Lasana Liburd who, along with other investigative journalists, co-authored the book Korruption im Sport which focused on the global phenomenon of corruption in sport.
Lasana is the founder and editor of Wired868 and has covered this story involving FIFA and the TTFA extensively.
Louis Young: Seeing as the financial woes of the TTFA have been public for a long time, why has FIFA suddenly taken the action to suspend a newly elected committee and impose a normalisation committee?
Lasana Liburd: “That would be a good question for Gianni Infantino, and it is for the FIFA bureau to answer really.
“It is true that the TTFA’s financial issues are not new at all. However, it is also true that the financial state the TTFA are in, is three times worse now due to the last administration that was run by David John-Williams, who voted for Infantino in 2016.
“You would say that the financial situation and the handling of the finances has been worse in the last administration, as opposed to this one which is only three months old.”
LY: Infantino and John-Williams had a lot of support from one another and had a fairly amicable relationship, is that right?
LL: “Yes, the relationship for those two dates back to when John-Williams became the first person from the Caribbean to announce support for Infantino.
“A week before the last TTFA election, Infantino was in Trinidad and announced John-Williams as his teammate and praised John-Williams for doing a great job, in his opinion, and asked Trinidad and Tobago to support John-Williams in the next election just a week later.”
LY: Do you feel FIFA has not approached this situation with the intentions of improving the football of the country?
LL: “Well, in the years before John-Williams was elected, Trinidad and Tobago went to two Gold Cup quarterfinals.
“The women’s national team came within a play-off match, away against Ecuador in 2014, from getting to the Women’s World Cup.
“There is no yardstick you can use that football in Trinidad and Tobago has improved in any way when every national team has gone backwards.
“When John-Williams was elected, we were 52nd in the World FIFA rankings and when he left, we were 106th.
“After he was elected, we set new records in every way, like longest period without scoring a goal, longest period without winning a match, longest losing streak…
“The only team we beat in 2019 was Anguilla, the worst-ranked team in football. So when people say that FIFA has not shown an interest in the football here, you’d have to agree. On the basis of these things here that would be the case.”
LY: The newly elected president, William Wallace, has signalled his intention to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), claiming this intervention by FIFA was unlawful and unwarranted. Can you talk me through what part of this intervention he and other members of the board find unlawful and unwarranted?
LL: “Well if you look at the FIFA statutes, for a member association to be suspended or expelled they have to go through the entire membership, which is made up 210 FIFA member associates.
“Implementing a normalisation committee is effectively wiping out the board of a members association. Somehow the seven-person FIFA bureau can decide that themselves.
“To me this is a violation of the spirit of the FIFA constitution. The statutes mean that all 210 members should be involved in the suspension of a country’s membership. So why does this FIFA bureau have this right? The clause is extremely broad regarding stepping into a country’s membership, so it allows them to step in almost at will, as long as Infantino can get three people around the table that agree with him.
“This is something other member associations and the world of football should look at, because this is too much power for Infantino to have.”
LY: From your perspective, and your own research on this topic, does the question become less about the financial operations of the TTFA, and more about the actions of Infantino? To what degree have Infantino’s actions in this situation crossed a line where it looks like a personal act against the TTFA?
LL: “CONCACAF has 35 member nations. That means 35 votes in FIFA. The Caribbean has 25 votes out of the 35 so we are by far the majority in CONCACAF.
“South America has less than half votes with only 10. The Caribbean itself has 25. Politically, we have seen the importance of the Caribbean to FIFA under Sepp Blatter, Joao Havelange, and so on.
“I believe that FIFA’s interest in the Caribbean is all that it has ever been. Votes. That is it. The Caribbean is a vote farm for FIFA and nothing more. They don’t care about football in the Caribbean, they never did. And certainly not under Infantino. That is why he would praise the work of a president of whose team is doing worse than it ever has in its history.
“I believe that when Infantino looks at the Caribbean, with a personal attachment one way or the other, I think that the relationship is strictly geopolitical. Votes.
“I think that the rest of the world looking at FIFA’s action here need to ask what exactly they want FIFA to be. We have seen FIFA’s image over the years and the cost of it.
“Do they want FIFA to treat a vital part in the world like Trinidad and Tobago like this, or do they want to focus on improving [the] sport?”
LY: Is part of the question regarding Infantino’s clear disrespect and lack of interest in progressing the football in the Caribbean, and specifically Trinidad and Tobago, related to the ‘Home of Football‘ FIFA wanted to build in Trinidad?
LL: “Well, the Home of Football is finished. It was Infantino who opened it. It is totally useless.
“It isn’t properly comforted or heated. It isn’t even properly insured. Infantino and [FIFA Vice-President Victor] Montagliani were posing on beds there, but right now it’s a sham and a joke.
“But going back to Infantino, as a journalist, I cannot be sanctioned for simply speaking my mind. When Blatter felt there was talk all over the world about the way he was able to run the body by giving large quantitates of money to member associations, that seemed like something that needed to be looked at.
“When Infantino was elected, he tripled the money that went to member associations without a clear oversight of what they did [with it]. I think this is most evident with Trinidad and Tobago, where the money has been spent, debt soared, but the team has not performed to the way they should. Yet he was happy with what was happening.
“I think one of the first things that Infantino did as president was close down the committee in charge of anti-racism. So in my personal view, there is a lot that Infantino needs to take account for in regards to his actions.
“Just look at the situation with Trinidad and Tobago and ask yourself the question: ‘Is Infantino the man to clean up football?’ It is Trinidad and Tobago today but it could be anyone tomorrow.”
LY: William Wallace has spoken about going to the CAS. How successful do you think Trinidad and Tobago could be in their appeal to revoke the decision?
LL: “Well I believe CAS is always weighted more towards governing sport bodies than individual teams, athletes, and member associations.
“Also, the FIFA statutes allow these far-reaching powers in the FIFA bureau to decide where a normalization committee goes. So I would say FIFA have the advantage, but it is certainly not impossible.
“Essentially, I don’t think Trinidad and Tobago can win this without the support of other member associations.
“Football does not belong to Infantino; it doesn’t belong to the seven people in the FIFA bureau, or the four people who voted against Trinidad and Tobago. It belongs to all member associations. And if people see this injustice in the same way as I do, then they need to go to Infantino and ask him what he is doing in the name of FIFA. Is this behaviour something the world wants to see continue?
“The least I would say is, let the 210 members decide whether Trinidad and Tobago’s election last November should stand or not.”
One significant conclusion to take from this situation is the power that has been displayed by FIFA, as well as the clear geopolitical investment Infantino has, specifically in the Caribbean region of CONCACAF.
As Lasana Liburd states, as long as Infantino can get three people around the table at the FIFA bureau to agree with him then, the FIFA statutes, as they are currently written, allow him to step into any member association he wants.
By implementing a normalization committee, FIFA have essentially signalled that they can remove an entire member association, manage their daily operations, and conduct new elections for them, without even consulting the 210 members.
We have to look at this action by Infantino and other member associations have to ask themselves; is Infantino the right man to clean up football?
Moreover, is this the sort of behaviour that we should just expect from the most powerful man in football governance?
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I think Wallace will win this case. Simple logic will tell you why.
If FIFA can at least prove that Wallace and his team somehow broke campaigning/election rules, then they are justified. They can use the recent financial history to further justify their takeover of the TTFA.
BUT
The CSA is not going to rule out a newly democratically elected administration because of the previous administrations poor financial decisions. This sets a DANGEROUS precedence.
Look at it through this lens:
If the government of a developing nation inherited debt from the previous government, will the IMF rule out the results of the election and takeover the government of the developing nation in question? Simple answer, NO. However, the IMF might push the government to implement austerity measures. I believe that's the most FIFA can do to the TTFA. They can use their funding as a tool to make the TTFA introduce austerity measures.
So FIFA is not going to get the CSA to side with them. As I said, doing so will be a DANGEROUS PRECEDENCE. The CSA will not want to be haunted by this.
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Good points gop
William Wallace will win this if he doesn’t give up. Even if the decision is in favor of FIFA, Wallace’s difficult decision to take on that corrupt regime has already brought a spotlight on the shady dealings of Infantino and his bedmates.
The folly of Barbados and other CFU FA’s to fall on their swords is that they don’t consider today is T&T, tomorrow is Barbados. They too easily accept crumbs, and slavery than to hold their heads up high and live with their dignity.
They fail to understand that they will always be thought of and treated as an afterthought. They are also empowering FIFA and signaling to them that we weren’t even stand up with our brothers and fight for ALL our footballing lives.
When will we as a people know our worth. As a block in the CFU we are a voting force. We need to unite and leverage our power to help the region. But you have to know your value. . .and I am not only talking votes, more importantly their inherent worth as persons made in God’s very image.
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Good points gop
William Wallace will win this if he doesn’t give up. Even if the decision is in favor of FIFA, Wallace’s difficult decision to take on that corrupt regime has already brought a spotlight on the shady dealings of Infantino and his bedmates.
The folly of Barbados and other CFU FA’s to fall on their swords is that they don’t consider today is T&T, tomorrow is Barbados. They too easily accept crumbs, and slavery than to hold their heads up high and live with their dignity.
They fail to understand that they will always be thought of and treated as an afterthought. They are also empowering FIFA and signaling to them that we weren’t even stand up with our brothers and fight for ALL our footballing lives.
When will we as a people know our worth. As a block in the CFU we are a voting force. We need to unite and leverage our power to help the region. But you have to know your value. . .and I am not only talking votes, more importantly their inherent worth as persons made in God’s very image.
I disagree with these points. FA heads throughout the region have been happy to maintain the status quo for years because they get a good salary and trips to FIFA and Concacaf congresses around the world. Any progress or change is considered a threat to that position. FIFA keeps supplying the money, and in return Infantino, Blatter, Montagliani, etc. continue to get votes from the region. The moment the new TTFA started showing some initiative, pushing for progress (or even just basic accountability and transparency), FIFA dealt with them. The failure of the other FAs in the region to stand up and be counted has nothing to do with ignorance or failure to understand that they might be next -- it simply comes down to looking after their own interests.
From everything I have read, it is not just FAs across the region either, there are plenty of Trinbagonians who are all-too-happy to bend over and accept FIFA's decision, whether it is right or wrong.
I'm not going defend Jack, but he did do some positive things for the region in that the Caribbean had an immense power by his adding so many new FIFA members. Sadly they have pissed it away since the CFU was essentially dissolved.
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Good points gop
William Wallace will win this if he doesn’t give up. Even if the decision is in favor of FIFA, Wallace’s difficult decision to take on that corrupt regime has already brought a spotlight on the shady dealings of Infantino and his bedmates.
The folly of Barbados and other CFU FA’s to fall on their swords is that they don’t consider today is T&T, tomorrow is Barbados. They too easily accept crumbs, and slavery than to hold their heads up high and live with their dignity.
They fail to understand that they will always be thought of and treated as an afterthought. They are also empowering FIFA and signaling to them that we weren’t even stand up with our brothers and fight for ALL our footballing lives.
When will we as a people know our worth. As a block in the CFU we are a voting force. We need to unite and leverage our power to help the region. But you have to know your value. . .and I am not only talking votes, more importantly their inherent worth as persons made in God’s very image.
I disagree with these points. FA heads throughout the region have been happy to maintain the status quo for years because they get a good salary and trips to FIFA and Concacaf congresses around the world. Any progress or change is considered a threat to that position. FIFA keeps supplying the money, and in return Infantino, Blatter, Montagliani, etc. continue to get votes from the region. The moment the new TTFA started showing some initiative, pushing for progress (or even just basic accountability and transparency), FIFA dealt with them. The failure of the other FAs in the region to stand up and be counted has nothing to do with ignorance or failure to understand that they might be next -- it simply comes down to looking after their own interests.
From everything I have read, it is not just FAs across the region either, there are plenty of Trinbagonians who are all-too-happy to bend over and accept FIFA's decision, whether it is right or wrong.
I'm not going defend Jack, but he did do some positive things for the region in that the Caribbean had an immense power by his adding so many new FIFA members. Sadly they have pissed it away since the CFU was essentially dissolved.
forget about it, Trinidad and Tobago has the most FIFA kiss asses for decades, they were the ones who towed the line with the absolute the worst and frightenly worthless federation president this side of the Mississippi in Oliver camps.
they supported this jack warner installed puppet for almost 20 years and had it not been for the toppling of that whole syndicate masquerading as world football administrators, jack warner would still have a stranglehold on football in trinidad and tobago.
go back to the beginning of this thread and see all the former players and coaches who’s in support of the normalization committee. from Dwight york and russel latapy to hanibal najar and brian williams has all given their approval to this obvious FIFA coup d’etat, so feel free to insult these hungry unscrupulous trinis in football, I don’t think any of us here would be in the least offended, not even a smidgen.
those clowns who have any say in football in trinidad has always been the biggest impediment to the advancement of the sport, that is why we’ve been starving for success for the past two generations. bunch of worthless talking puppets.
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I think Wallace will win this case. Simple logic will tell you why.
If FIFA can at least prove that Wallace and his team somehow broke campaigning/election rules, then they are justified. They can use the recent financial history to further justify their takeover of the TTFA.
BUT
The CSA is not going to rule out a newly democratically elected administration because of the previous administrations poor financial decisions. This sets a DANGEROUS precedence.
Look at it through this lens:
If the government of a developing nation inherited debt from the previous government, will the IMF rule out the results of the election and takeover the government of the developing nation in question? Simple answer, NO. However, the IMF might push the government to implement austerity measures. I believe that's the most FIFA can do to the TTFA. They can use their funding as a tool to make the TTFA introduce austerity measures.
So FIFA is not going to get the CSA to side with them. As I said, doing so will be a DANGEROUS PRECEDENCE. The CSA will not want to be haunted by this.
The application of simple logic didn't lead the TTFA to the circumstances that have resulted in pursuing process with CAS and the application of merely simple logic won't extricate the TTFA from this mess. And, it won't be the absolute standard applied in arbitration.
Nevertheless, there is not a scintilla of doubt regarding the integrity of the electoral process from which the TTFA executive emerged in November 2019. The representation made regarding FIFA defending normalization on the basis of electoral misconduct has no proper place in the conversation.
Not only is there a process particular to rectifying defciencies in a member association election that does not rise to the institution of normalization ... but the legitimacy of the TTFA executive is not what this issue is about.
I don't accept that the IMF comparison is a proper comparison although I acknowledge that it is a tempting comparison based on the leveraging of authority perceived to be imposed on members by both entities.
The NC is FIFA's "austerity measure" and proposed prosperity measure. If I acquiesce in the comparison I would posit that FIFA is more authoritarian than the IMF vis-a-vis their respective constituencies.
What you're possibly suggesting is that the IMF is more draconian. Although both organizations reflect hub and spoke characteristics, they are not the same vehicle.
I differ with you. In my view the CAS conclusion will be rendered on narrow grounds rather than on broad considerations. Narrow grounds require treatment with layered sophistication. Let me add: this is the most important case for us but it isn't on the face/yet the most important submission for all federations. Not foreseeing a Bosman moment here. Again, narrow vs broad.
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Why bother TTFA? It's time
T&T Express
I'VE looked at the administrative and performance issues of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) that have come to my attention through the media since the Germany World Cup where T& T qualified as finalists in 2006. From then to now it seems to be an endless cycle of controversial and contestable issues, lawsuits, claims, accusations of bias and highhandedness, awards to consultants, coaches and officials of all sorts.
There have been issues surrounding breaches of contract, default, performance negligence, you name it. It seems the TTFA contracts and then changes its intentions, goes into agreements and has no contingencies for relief or even escape, when administrators change their minds run into unanticipated obstacles.
This has been the backdrop and landscape for football administration in the country. There is never money to do what needs to be done; and with the money that becomes available, there is little accountability or transparency.
Now we hear FIFA is fed up and is using its veto power, so to speak, to wrest control from the TTFA. Lo and behold, everyone is shocked and outraged as to why this is happening, and questioning whether FIFA has the right. Just the posing of this question, in my mind, is proof enough of the validity for the said action.
If, after all that has transpired over the years, you cannot see why there is opposition by FIFA, then it means we actually lacked the understanding, ethics decency that would have warranted us taking on the job of managing the association in the first place. Everyone can see the TTFA has done a bad job so far.
Now it's about saving the reputation of football administration in T& T, and who best to do so than the global association?
Granted, FIFA has come under question the past. But, having done its own housekeeping, isn't it reasonable that FIFA now extends it to subordinate associations as well? There is a side wind blowing; the story that it's a case of one old T& T administration trying to undermine the new one. As true as that may be, it does not mitigate the fact that the time has come for radical action, and the incidence of whichever administration is in power does not remove this need for change.
Too bad it had to happen at this time of administrative change.
Come on, guys, whether it was on your watch or not, a lot has transpired and it's no good continuing to flog a dead horse, pretending there is no problem.
It's the 21st century. Financial integrity and reporting standards govern how things are done. Give the global boss and custodian of the sport a chance to do what it can at this dark hour and please step aside.
Don't drag T& T down to a dogfight for a supremacy we hardly have earned over the years, and very probably no longer deserve.
John Thompson
St James
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Good points gop
William Wallace will win this if he doesn’t give up. Even if the decision is in favor of FIFA, Wallace’s difficult decision to take on that corrupt regime has already brought a spotlight on the shady dealings of Infantino and his bedmates.
The folly of Barbados and other CFU FA’s to fall on their swords is that they don’t consider today is T&T, tomorrow is Barbados. They too easily accept crumbs, and slavery than to hold their heads up high and live with their dignity.
They fail to understand that they will always be thought of and treated as an afterthought. They are also empowering FIFA and signaling to them that we weren’t even stand up with our brothers and fight for ALL our footballing lives.
When will we as a people know our worth. As a block in the CFU we are a voting force. We need to unite and leverage our power to help the region. But you have to know your value. . .and I am not only talking votes, more importantly their inherent worth as persons made in God’s very image.
I disagree with these points. FA heads throughout the region have been happy to maintain the status quo for years because they get a good salary and trips to FIFA and Concacaf congresses around the world. Any progress or change is considered a threat to that position. FIFA keeps supplying the money, and in return Infantino, Blatter, Montagliani, etc. continue to get votes from the region. The moment the new TTFA started showing some initiative, pushing for progress (or even just basic accountability and transparency), FIFA dealt with them. The failure of the other FAs in the region to stand up and be counted has nothing to do with ignorance or failure to understand that they might be next -- it simply comes down to looking after their own interests.
From everything I have read, it is not just FAs across the region either, there are plenty of Trinbagonians who are all-too-happy to bend over and accept FIFA's decision, whether it is right or wrong.
I'm not going defend Jack, but he did do some positive things for the region in that the Caribbean had an immense power by his adding so many new FIFA members. Sadly they have pissed it away since the CFU was essentially dissolved.
Yes lots of Trinidadians and Tobagonians are likewise spineless. The problem is certainly widespread. But majority opinion has never been the litmus test for truth or prudence even though many simply succumb to the pressure of the popular. Colonialism has had a thorough and blanketing effect on its subjects. I however, will choose freedom every time. No other man is going to dominate me. You'all may disagree all you want, but Infantino and his cronies are throwing around their weight because they believe they can easily do as they please with us. And they have too many victims welcoming it without even a fight. Allyuh mad a wot! ::)
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Nakhid: FIFA acted like a bully
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
FORMER national football captain David Nakhid said FIFA acted in a “bullying fashion,” in its decision to take over the running of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), saying the former TTFA executive has every right to challenge that decision.
Nakhid was speaking to the media before he distributed hampers to needy families in his hometown of Mt D’or, Champs Fleurs to help battle the covid19 pandemic.
He said, “It is a complex situation. I think the right of principle is with the former administration, the Wallace slate. The dilemma is if that situation, whether the right is with them, is going to serve the national interest of T&T. I would like to think that as a matter of principle they have a right to fight the case, I believe that they do.”
On March 17, FIFA made the decision to disband the TTFA executive led by former president William Wallace.
FIFA and CONCACAF found that TTFA was not in a position to run football effectively in a fact-finding mission and decided to break up the TTFA hierarchy and form a normalisation committee to take over. Among the reasons FIFA gave to break up the TTFA was the massive debt facing local football, which is said to be $50 million.
Wallace was only voted into office in November, 2019 and inherited the debt from the previous administration, led by David John-Williams.
Local businessman Robert Hadad was chosen as the chairperson of the normalisation committee, after former TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick declined the offer.
FIFA said the mandate of the normalisation committee will include establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA.
The normalisation committee’s job will end when the assigned tasks are complete, but it would not last more than 24 months.
In early April, the former Wallace-led executive decided to fight the decision by FIFA to appoint the normalisation committee by filing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Nakhid, who unsuccessfully campaigned to become FIFA president five years ago, said the move by the world governing body for football was an aggressive one. “We are looking at a situation where FIFA, who with their high-handed manner…did move in a bullying fashion (and) can hold T&T to ransom. They can ban national teams and I think that is something that we need to look at. I hope they (TTFA) go the distance (in fighting the matter), but I don’t think they can. I think FIFA in the end will prevail.”
Asked whether he thinks TTFA and FIFA could have attempted to meet halfway on the issue, Nakhid said, “I would have liked them to have met halfway before. I would have liked the Wallace administration to have reconciled with the John-Williams (administration) and found a way that FIFA did not have to intervene.”
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Appetite to fight
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express)
What is the point of engaging in a fight you are likely to lose? And if—miracle of miracles—you do win, the consequences could be so devastating to the interests you claim to represent that the victory won’t feel like a crushing defeat?
Principle. Yes, its that simple: principle.
Time and the unfolding of the matter between the deposed Trinidad and Tobago Football Association administration and FIFA will confirm whether or not William Wallace and company are taking on the world’s most powerful single sporting organisation on the basis of the rights and wrongs of the installation of a normalisation committee or if it is also tied in with ego and not wanting to be seen to be brushed aside without offering some sort of resistance.
Many of us may think it is noble to fight on principle. It sounds honourable, even heroic to do so. But there are clearly many prominent and influential voices in the national game who believe it is a pointless effort and that the welfare of the game here would be best served if the local combatants put their tails between their legs (can’t imagine Keith Look Loy ever doing that) and contest the elections again in a couple years when they could be back at the helm with the $50 million debt wiped off, money in the bank and in the good graces of the sport’s rulers in Zurich.
Even the one or two inclined to publicly support the executive which was only elected last November 24—obviously the timing of this normalisation action cannot be coincidental—appear to concede that it is well nigh impossible to get the better of FIFA, especially as taking them to court could result in the nation being banned from all international competition.
Who wants the responsibility of looking into the eyes of young men and women, who hold dreams of footballing glory deep in their hearts, and tell them they will have to be the sacrificial lambs in this fight, and that the price they are likely to pay regarding their own careers is small compared to going down in history as playing a part in transforming the global governance of the world’s most popular sport for the better?
Essentially, this is the dilemma we all face. Do you stand your ground because you are convinced of the correctness and moral superiority of your perspective and therefore take the blows which come with such action, or do you compromise because the repercussions of a principled stand are far too great?
It’s like the usual discourse which takes place around here and is especially relevant now, given the possibility of T&T gasoline ending up in Venezuela via Aruba, when it comes to the United States’ dominance—ideologically, economically and if necessary, militarily—of our region.
However entertaining and newsworthy the theatre provided by our politicians may be, there is also the significant issue, which is topical 50 years after the events of early 1970, as to whether or not we really value ourselves as an independent people and a constitutional republic willing to chart our own course, even if it means ruffling the feathers of the bald eagle whose wingspan covers almost this entire hemisphere.
Of course the short answer to that is “No.” Economic isolation, with all its attendant social consequences, is not something we can cope with, certainly not with our already weakened financial state further debilitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before the dollars and cents considerations, our hearts and minds already belong to the good people headquartered on Marli Street because most of us cannot comprehend life without access to the lifestyle and entertainment as promoted by our great godfather to the north.
Football by contrast is only a game, but it is a game which means a lot to many people who, whether as spectator, player or sponsor, will not want to see it suffer in any significant way just because slighted administrators feel they must get justice. You could argue that the game has been suffering anyway with all the issues since that high point of the historic World Cup finals appearance in Germany in 2006. But internal bacchanal is one thing. Being blacklisted by FIFA is a different matter entirely.
So let’s see what happens at the first hurdle with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (we await the date of a hearing) and if all this speculation about having the stomach for a real fight is rendered irrelevant.
Oh, as for those fixated on the antics of West Indies cricketers with too much time on their hands, the Jamaica Observer newspaper dealt with it best in its editorial last Saturday when it said Chris Gayle “showed himself to be manifestly immature.”
This arrant foolishness needs no more oxygen.
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TTFA staff appeals to Wallace to show human side
T&T Guardian
As the battle for T&T Football Association (TTFA) accounts between former president William Wallace and Robert Hadad, the chairman of FIFA's Normalisation committee rages on, the staff members at the TTFA has written to its former president William Wallace in their plight to be paid.
While Wallace's lawyer Matthew Gayle awaits a third response from First Citizens Bank (FCB) to allow his client access to the TTFA accounts, the 15 workers at the organisation send an unsigned letter to the former president.
According to a source close to the latest development who spoke to Guardian Media Sports on the condition of anonymity said, "The workers did not want to sign the letter for fear of victimization. The source said the workers are very frustrated because they are caught in the middle of this feud and they believe that's it's unfair to them."
In the letter as seen by Guardian Media Sports, the TTFA staff wrote, "With the utmost of respect, the staff of the General Secretariat of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association has found it necessary at this time write to you to share our opinion on the current situation. We would like to start by highlighting that there now exists an urgent and stressful situation that has been thrust upon the staff due to the nonpayment of salaries for a second consecutive month."
It continued, "Please note that this is not an attempt for us to make any sort of political statement or take sides in the ongoing dispute between yourself and the Normalization Committee however the situation as it is now, affects us greatly and directly and we have never been granted the privilege of being solicited for an opinion. We would highlight that there are two separate dimensions to this scenario that one must take into consideration. They are the human side and the professional side."
When contacted about the letter Ramesh Ramdhan, the general secretary of the TTFA on Sunday he told Guardian Media Sports that he received the letter but don't entertain anonymous letters, while Wallace said he didn't receive it.
The workers outlined seven points of concern to them:
*that today May 2nd is the beginning of a 3rd month that the administrative staff has not received salaries.
*This also affects technical staff members some that have not been paid as much as 6 months
*TTFA full-time staff are currently employed and do not qualify for any of the government assistance programs and therefore while other members of the general public do have an opportunity to access assistance we do not.
*Members of staff have also been refused assistance through NIS because of nonpayment of statutory deductions
*If control of the TTFA accounts is taken before the courts to be settled, staff members will have to endure extreme hardship because of the extended time we will have to go without a means to be paid.
*Members of staff have already begun to get calls from creditors
*There are members of staff who are the sole breadwinner in their household
The workers who have been home since March 15 when the TTFA closed its office because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which has affected T&T and the global community added that "While our general knowledge of the overall situation is mostly restricted to what is published in the media, It is our opinion that the administration and technical departments of the TTFA are made up of technical officers who are competent professional in their various fields, who should be allowed to do their jobs in the interest of football. That being said we would like to highlight the current professional /administrative conundrum that the staff is facing."
The battle, which has thus far been fought via a series of strongly-worded legal letters sent between attorneys for both parties, resumed on Thursday with gale giving FCB until Friday to respond.
In February, the office staff was not paid by the TTFA which was still led by Wallace and the general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan told Guardian Media Sports that he borrowed money to pay staff. However, since FIFA removed Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick on March 17, the staff has not been paid for March and April.
Last month FIFA announced that it was handing over grants to its member associations, particularly those in need of help during the current COVID-19 pandemic environment. It also announced that a FIFA Relief Fund will also be accessible to vulnerable member associations.
This means the embattled football association is in line to receive US$1.2 million (an estimated TT$6.7million), plus a CONCACAF US$160,000 (an estimated TT$1,040,000) grant, as well as an unknown amount for the relief fund to the Normalisation Committee.
However, it was following this announcement by FIFA that a battle commenced for the TTFA accounts on April 17.
The four officers have since appealed FIFA's decision to remove them for office to the Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Appetite to fight
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express)
What is the point of engaging in a fight you are likely to lose? And if—miracle of miracles—you do win, the consequences could be so devastating to the interests you claim to represent that the victory won’t feel like a crushing defeat?
Principle. Yes, its that simple: principle.
Time and the unfolding of the matter between the deposed Trinidad and Tobago Football Association administration and FIFA will confirm whether or not William Wallace and company are taking on the world’s most powerful single sporting organisation on the basis of the rights and wrongs of the installation of a normalisation committee or if it is also tied in with ego and not wanting to be seen to be brushed aside without offering some sort of resistance.
Many of us may think it is noble to fight on principle. It sounds honourable, even heroic to do so. But there are clearly many prominent and influential voices in the national game who believe it is a pointless effort and that the welfare of the game here would be best served if the local combatants put their tails between their legs (can’t imagine Keith Look Loy ever doing that) and contest the elections again in a couple years when they could be back at the helm with the $50 million debt wiped off, money in the bank and in the good graces of the sport’s rulers in Zurich.
Even the one or two inclined to publicly support the executive which was only elected last November 24—obviously the timing of this normalisation action cannot be coincidental—appear to concede that it is well nigh impossible to get the better of FIFA, especially as taking them to court could result in the nation being banned from all international competition.
Who wants the responsibility of looking into the eyes of young men and women, who hold dreams of footballing glory deep in their hearts, and tell them they will have to be the sacrificial lambs in this fight, and that the price they are likely to pay regarding their own careers is small compared to going down in history as playing a part in transforming the global governance of the world’s most popular sport for the better?
Essentially, this is the dilemma we all face. Do you stand your ground because you are convinced of the correctness and moral superiority of your perspective and therefore take the blows which come with such action, or do you compromise because the repercussions of a principled stand are far too great?
It’s like the usual discourse which takes place around here and is especially relevant now, given the possibility of T&T gasoline ending up in Venezuela via Aruba, when it comes to the United States’ dominance—ideologically, economically and if necessary, militarily—of our region.
However entertaining and newsworthy the theatre provided by our politicians may be, there is also the significant issue, which is topical 50 years after the events of early 1970, as to whether or not we really value ourselves as an independent people and a constitutional republic willing to chart our own course, even if it means ruffling the feathers of the bald eagle whose wingspan covers almost this entire hemisphere.
Of course the short answer to that is “No.” Economic isolation, with all its attendant social consequences, is not something we can cope with, certainly not with our already weakened financial state further debilitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before the dollars and cents considerations, our hearts and minds already belong to the good people headquartered on Marli Street because most of us cannot comprehend life without access to the lifestyle and entertainment as promoted by our great godfather to the north.
Football by contrast is only a game, but it is a game which means a lot to many people who, whether as spectator, player or sponsor, will not want to see it suffer in any significant way just because slighted administrators feel they must get justice. You could argue that the game has been suffering anyway with all the issues since that high point of the historic World Cup finals appearance in Germany in 2006. But internal bacchanal is one thing. Being blacklisted by FIFA is a different matter entirely.
So let’s see what happens at the first hurdle with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (we await the date of a hearing) and if all this speculation about having the stomach for a real fight is rendered irrelevant.
Oh, as for those fixated on the antics of West Indies cricketers with too much time on their hands, the Jamaica Observer newspaper dealt with it best in its editorial last Saturday when it said Chris Gayle “showed himself to be manifestly immature.”
This arrant foolishness needs no more oxygen.
this article wreaks with negativity at best. I’m puzzled as to why he even bothered to write anything when everything he touched on was terribly redundant, and has offered nothing new that we haven’t already heard a thousand times over.
there was a time when emperor jack was governing football in TT like he somehow had an inherent right to treat the sport like it was his own personal board game, yet no dogs barked except liburd. this feezer bloke wrote a few articles but played it safe, same with the DJW era, those guys gave him a huge pass, and it was only until his mismanagement became difficult to ignore, you heard a lone voice here and there which leads me to conclude that that place is sad sad sad with too many self service cowardly people who just don’t care enough. it’s real bloody sad indeed.
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Cudjoe calls on stakeholders to unite to restore football
T&T Guardian
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe has called on all football stakeholders to come together in the interest of restoring the sport to its former glory days.
On Monday in an interview with Guardian Media Sports she said her government was not in a position to bail out the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and if there's assistance coming from the parent body (FIFA) concerning dealing with the financial affairs within the embattled football association, straightening things out and putting the association on stable footing, then all should join in and help where necessary.
There has been a battle for the right to manage the affairs of the sport by the ousted United TTFA group, which comprises president William Wallace and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph Warrick, all of whom were replaced by a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee on March 17. The sport’s governing body felt the organisation was on the verge of insolvency due to a $50 million debt, coupled with an inability to show programmes and policies that could pay the debt and steer it onto stable footing.
Wallace and his team have since agreed to challenge the appointment of the committee through their lawyer Matthew Gayle through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"I think FIFA and the normalisation committee through Robert Hadad, has come to assist and I think those who are in positions to assist should jump on board and assist," said Cudjoe adding that she was not picking sides but believes everyone who has the ability or authority to bring some sort of peace to this situation, should work together to restore football.
"I see the workers and the technical people at the TTFA would have started establishing some strategies alongside the Hadad committee and I think that is something good. The tug-of-war and the throwing of words, the bacchanal on Facebook and on social media, does not help anybody. It doesn’t help the TTFA, it doesn’t help FIFA and it certainly doesn’t help the athletes who are depending on this sport as a means of livelihood and as a means of income generator.”
She explained further that the sport has been tarnished and destroyed by personal egos, and a craving for power, describing it as a back and forth with threats to go to court, as it relates to who is in charge and who is not, etc.
Cudjoe said her only hope is that the necessary stakeholders would come together and focus more on solving the problem at hand so that they can look back at dealing with areas of development, at football touching the communities and athletes, who depend on the sport, to live.
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Cudjoe calls on stakeholders to unite to restore football
T&T Guardian
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe has called on all football stakeholders to come together in the interest of restoring the sport to its former glory days.
On Monday in an interview with Guardian Media Sports she said her government was not in a position to bail out the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and if there's assistance coming from the parent body (FIFA) concerning dealing with the financial affairs within the embattled football association, straightening things out and putting the association on stable footing, then all should join in and help where necessary.
There has been a battle for the right to manage the affairs of the sport by the ousted United TTFA group, which comprises president William Wallace and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph Warrick, all of whom were replaced by a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee on March 17. The sport’s governing body felt the organisation was on the verge of insolvency due to a $50 million debt, coupled with an inability to show programmes and policies that could pay the debt and steer it onto stable footing.
Wallace and his team have since agreed to challenge the appointment of the committee through their lawyer Matthew Gayle through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"I think FIFA and the normalisation committee through Robert Hadad, has come to assist and I think those who are in positions to assist should jump on board and assist," said Cudjoe adding that she was not picking sides but believes everyone who has the ability or authority to bring some sort of peace to this situation, should work together to restore football.
"I see the workers and the technical people at the TTFA would have started establishing some strategies alongside the Hadad committee and I think that is something good. The tug-of-war and the throwing of words, the bacchanal on Facebook and on social media, does not help anybody. It doesn’t help the TTFA, it doesn’t help FIFA and it certainly doesn’t help the athletes who are depending on this sport as a means of livelihood and as a means of income generator.”
She explained further that the sport has been tarnished and destroyed by personal egos, and a craving for power, describing it as a back and forth with threats to go to court, as it relates to who is in charge and who is not, etc.
Cudjoe said her only hope is that the necessary stakeholders would come together and focus more on solving the problem at hand so that they can look back at dealing with areas of development, at football touching the communities and athletes, who depend on the sport, to live.
with all due respect minister, but you are taking sides. you said that you didn’t want to get involved, yet you’re talking about unity with a usurper in robert hadad, and what good is fifa here to do? come on shamfa you’re acting like you of all people don’t know that this is all about vengeance against the clubs and teams who voted against their hog face puppet.
they are here to make sure that Wallace does not control this organization, if they meant any good towards us they would have made this move a year ago when it was warranted, not now, and your just taking the easy way out and giving conspiracy vultures like controversial a clear shot at your back with his ridiculous notions. come on shamfa shame on you, it would have been better if you stayed mum on this.
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Hadad to TTFA staff: Working on it
T&T Express
The lack of bank account access notwithstanding, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association staff are still being assured that efforts are being made to pay them.
This word came on Monday from Robert Hadad, head of the normalisation committee appointed by world governing body, FIFA.
TTFA administrative staff have not received salaries since FIFA appointed the committee in March to run the affairs of the Association instead of the elected executive headed by president William Wallace. Wallace insists that as the duly elected head of the TTFA, the body is the only one entitled to receive FIFA money. The matter of control of local football is now before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
In the meantime, First Citizens Bank, at which the TTFA’s accounts are held, has refused to allow either side access to the accounts.
Meanwhile, an unsigned letter surfaced on the weekend, purportedly from staff members, pleading for Wallace to abandon his fight for control of the TTFA’s accounts.
On Monday, Hadad told the SportsMax Zone programme on cable TV network SportsMax that he had seen the letter and acknowledged that besides the office staff, technical staff had not been paid for a longer period.
He acknowledged that the TTFA is the only body that could receive FIFA cash, saying, “The associate member of FIFA is the TTFA, so they legitimately could only send the money to the TTFA.”
He also noted that, “Until I could confirm to FIFA that we have control of the bank accounts and there is no risk of garnishing, I don’t see any money coming forth.”
However, Hadad added, “we are working on other means of paying them.”
The businessman was not willing to say what other means were being considered.
However, he stated: “We are aware that we are in a pandemic and we are in very dangerous times and some people need their money, so we are working around ways of getting them their money before we have control of the bank account.”
And asked if he had anticipated opposition from the Wallace group when his committee took over, a resolute Hadad noted: “Would they have made my team’s job easier? Sure....But this is how it is and we will work through it. What I can tell you is we are here to stay and we are representing FIFA and FIFA will only send money to us.”
He added: “We were not appointed because we wanted to be appointed. We were appointed because the TTFA is in serious debt and in serious risk of insolvency and not being able to pay their debts, and FIFA, they are doing the right thing. Whether or not it should have been done before, or whatever anyone wants to say, I’m not here to judge that. I don’t know why now, what I do is now, the debt is very high and the revenue we have is not enough to pay the debt and (court) judgements are happening now...The judgements and the garnishing of the account are all not good situations to be in. So somebody had to do the job.”
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Normalisation Committee ‘forgetting’ TTFA’s past?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
Exasperated is the most accurate adjective to describe my thoughts when writing about this local football saga. But when one is down, few people try to help him/her back up or give words of encouragement to stand on two feet again. I am sure that must be the feeling of William Wallace who is undoubtedly persona non grata with FIFA and the Minister of Sports.
When one thinks it can’t possibly get worse as battling FIFA is bad enough, thrown into the mix is the Minister of Sports, and based on her recent comments to the media, I find her confusing. On one hand, a few weeks ago, she said, to paraphrase, she rather not get involved in any FIFA vs T&T Football Association (TTFA) battle because two years ago, she was told by the then TTFA president to stay out of FIFA and TTFA business.
Yet, she comes out to the media to deliver a message to stakeholders and says that she recognises FIFA’s imposed normalisation committee. Perhaps they don’t represent anyone. To be honest, I wish when it comes to football the Minister could simply refuse to comment on the matter. At least she will be consistent then.
Remember Wallace is fighting, what he believes along with many others, to be an unjust act and abuse of power by FIFA against a democratically elected body just three months into its operations.
Meanwhile, another letter surfaces from an anonymous staff member asking Wallace to do the “humane” and “rational” thing and concede the local football body’s bank accounts to the FIFA-imposed normalisation committee.
Strangely enough, the letter was both unsigned and undated and not sent directly to Wallace, but instead to selected media houses. Certain insiders have sent me suggestions about who they think the letter originated from.
When one of those individuals was confronted and asked this simple question, “Did you write the letter, and were there other staff members involved?”, the individual responded, “Lol”.
Now, I can’t speak for anyone, but if I had written the letter I would have perhaps said: “Yes, I wrote it because I am frustrated and need my salary now”. I can certainly empathise with the employees’ frustrations, especially during these difficult times. I also understand Wallace’s fight and I am confident that should any of those workers find themselves in his position fighting for a cause, they may well pursue a similar type of action.
What is even more puzzling to me is if First Citizens is not facilitating any disbursements until this whole mess is settled by court order, then why doesn’t the normalisation committee do the “humane” and “rational” thing and pay the employees?
Surely FIFA can make a cheque out to the normalisation committee in order for the TTFA staff to receive their salaries. Unless the normalisation committee members are not being paid and doing this for the love of football? I highly doubt this is the case as the payment of their salaries may be the least of their concerns.
FIFA must be aware, through the normalisation committee, of what is happening here with the TTFA’s bank account. I certainly do not know if any constitution allows for that type of situation to arise, but this must be treated as an exceptional circumstance.
As expected, Wallace is being painted as the big, bad wolf for not wanting to give salaries to the staff. But, I am also made to understand in the letter written by the anonymous staff member that the office staff do not qualify for the government’s salary relief programme and have also been refused assistance through the National Insurance Service (NIS) because of the non-payment of statutory deductions from their employer, TTFA. This was because the previous administration allegedly withheld approximately TT$4 million payable to the National Insurance Board and the Board of Inland Revenue for NIS, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and health surcharge for its employees between November 2017 and November 2019.
The problem I have is simple - why is there supposedly no one investigating these irregularities? Surely if the normalisation committee had any conscience, and I believe that they are all persons with high integrity, they would be investigating certain issues that the footballing public need resolved. I keep reading about this normalisation committee saying that they are not on a witch hunt.
No one is asking for this, but what is being asked is whether there were misdemeanors leading up to March (or was it January?) 2020 when they were appointed. They would then have a duty to the football-loving public of T&T to come clean and let people know what they have investigated and what is going to be done about it.
I am sick of hearing the old adage of “Let’s forget the past” as this is a new chapter for football. How can anyone just shut their eyes and move forward when apparently there is so much stink dirt to be dug up within our football administration? Does anyone care about just how we have found ourselves in this position? Are people suggesting that we simply forget what has happened over the last four years to denigrate our football into vagrancy status both on and off the field?
How can any right-thinking individual take up a post and not go into the archives and ask basic questions like where was all this money spent? Who were contracts given to and why? What procurement process was followed? How were appointments made? Why were details of the whole ‘Home of Football’ project kept such a big secret and why was the workmanship deemed shoddy?
Perhaps, I am very wrong and the normalisation committee is very quietly behind the scenes doing their investigations. Maybe on one sunny day, we will see a news conference where all will be revealed as to why our football has been in a dark, terrible hole for the last four years. Only then will I be able to breathe a sigh of relief and say let's all move on with our football. Wishful thinking at its best.
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Wonderful article by Colin murray and one of the very very few people in sports who actually touched on the meat of the matter, I just wish we had more like him in that integrity starved nation, especially with those mindless vultures who hang around sports and is so very void of good ideas.
I longed for the day when the corona virus and this dispute is finally behind us and we all could exhale and enjoy the simple things in life again, like watching our football in caring hands for the second time in our history, first with timkee god rest his soul, and now william wallace.
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Wonderful article by Colin murray and one of the very very few people in sports who actually touched on the meat of the matter, I just wish we had more like him in that integrity starved nation, especially with those mindless vultures who hang around sports and is so very void of good ideas.
I longed for the day when the corona virus and this dispute is finally behind us and we all could exhale and enjoy the simple things in life again, like watching our football in caring hands for the second time in our history, first with timkee god rest his soul, and now william wallace.
Lately, when I see an article from the Guardian, I just keep going as I notice they seem to be in FIFA's pocket. But because of your comments I read Murray's article. I guess I need to pay attention to the authors a bit more and not just the partisan papers.
Couldn't agree with you more. Refreshing to see the few who care about truth and righteousness.
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Wallace, executive not pursuing CAS matter
JOEL BAILEY
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
THE EMBATTLED TTFA (TT Football Association) president William Wallace and his former executive (Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip) are no longer pursuing their legal matter with CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport).
Wallace and his team were appealing a decision by FIFA, the global governing body for football, who, on March 17, removed the group from office, due to mounting debts, and set up a normalisation committee, headed by businessman Robert Hadad.
It is understood that Wallace and his team, which also included attorneys Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne, were concerned over CAS’ desire to increase the legal costs from the TTFA.
The TTFA were asked to pay the entire cost of arbitration (TT $277,000) but FIFA would not spend a cent until the matter is heard.
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Wonderful article by Colin murray and one of the very very few people in sports who actually touched on the meat of the matter, I just wish we had more like him in that integrity starved nation, especially with those mindless vultures who hang around sports and is so very void of good ideas.
I longed for the day when the corona virus and this dispute is finally behind us and we all could exhale and enjoy the simple things in life again, like watching our football in caring hands for the second time in our history, first with timkee god rest his soul, and now william wallace.
Lately, when I see an article from the Guardian, I just keep going as I notice they seem to be in FIFA's pocket. But because of your comments I read Murray's article. I guess I need to pay attention to the authors a bit more and not just the partisan papers.
Couldn't agree with you more. Refreshing to see the few who care about truth and righteousness.
Murray is typically a discerning commentator.
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Wonderful article by Colin murray and one of the very very few people in sports who actually touched on the meat of the matter, I just wish we had more like him in that integrity starved nation, especially with those mindless vultures who hang around sports and is so very void of good ideas.
I longed for the day when the corona virus and this dispute is finally behind us and we all could exhale and enjoy the simple things in life again, like watching our football in caring hands for the second time in our history, first with timkee god rest his soul, and now william wallace.
Lately, when I see an article from the Guardian, I just keep going as I notice they seem to be in FIFA's pocket. But because of your comments I read Murray's article. I guess I need to pay attention to the authors a bit more and not just the partisan papers.
Couldn't agree with you more. Refreshing to see the few who care about truth and righteousness.
Murray is typically a discerning commentator.
:beermug: :beermug: :beermug:
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Wallace attorney raises bias claim from CAS in FIFA appeal
By Derek Achong (T&T Guardian)
Lawyers representing the ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive members are questioning whether the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is biased towards their clients in their ongoing challenge against Fifa.
Attorney Dr Emir Crowne, who is representing former TTFA president William Wallace and his executive team, claimed in a three-page letter sent to Antonio de Quesada, the head of arbitration at the Switzerland-based international court, yesterday.
In the letter, which was obtained by Guardian Media Sports, Crowne sought to raise a series of procedural issues, which allegedly occurred after the appeal was filed on April 6, and led them to question the institutional independence of CAS.
Crowne pointed out that while his clients requested a sole arbitrator due to financial constraints, Fifa suggested using three.
"By agreeing to the respondent's request, the CAS would have tripled the cost of the arbitration," Crowne said.
He also took issue with the fact that the CAS set the cost of the arbitration as 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000), although it is expected to take place via video conferencing to save on travel expenses for the arbitration panel and the CAS counsel.
Stating that his clients received no breakdown of the "exorbitant fees", Crowne said: "To that end, we are genuinely unsure how the CAS facilitates access to justice with such extravagant fees. The appellants are not from the developed world, nor are they as well-financed as the respondent."
Crowne questioned the CAS's decision to require the executive members to pay for the full cost of the appeal based on a "general rule", under which Fifa does not pay half the costs, as required under Article 64.2 of its procedural rules.
Under the rule, if one party fails to pay its share and the other fails to cover the entire amount by the deadline set by the court, the appeal is automatically withdrawn.
"On its face, therefore, the CAS appears to be a willing participant in the respondent's gamesmanship, especially if the CAS has institutional knowledge that the respondent-an entity with immeasurable financial resources- would not be advancing their share of the arbitration costs, and especially since it was the respondent who asked that the matter be heard before a three-person panel thereby tripling the cost of the proceedings," Crowne said.
He described the alleged conduct as "at least an unacceptable display of apparent institutional bias".
Crowne also referred to the fact that Fifa wrote to the CAS seeking an extension of time to file its response to the appeal until after the fees are paid by the former TTFA executive team and noted that it (Fifa) was essentially given an automatic extension.
"To compound the perception of institutional bias, the letter from CAS informing the appellants of CAS' ruling, is the very same correspondence which informed the appellants that the respondent had made a request, meaning that the CAS had ruled without even giving the appellant the opportunity to be heard," Crowne said.
Crowne suggested that even if his clients had applied the CAS for legal aid, it would not remedy the bias that has allegedly already arisen.
"As it stands, there are very real doubts that the CAS remains an appropriate and fair forum for the resolution of this dispute," Crowne said.
Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick filed the appeal after they were removed by Fifa on March 17 and replaced by a normalisation committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad and comprises attorney Judy Daniel and retired banker Nigel Romano.
In their appeal, the former executive members are claiming that they were wrongfully removed by Fifa despite being lawfully elected to their positions in November, last year.
The former executive members' lawyers were recently locked in a legal war of words with TTFA's bankers First Citizens' Bank over control of the association's accounts.
They have established an account for donations to fund the appeal on the crowd-funding platform GoFundMe, which had amassed US$4,220, up to late yesterday. The deadline for payments is May 20.
The former executive is also being represented by Matthew Gayle.
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Urling calls for Wallace, Hadad to work together
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
"Come on and support the Normalisation Committee, it happened to us also and now we are better off."
This has been the advice of Clinton Urling, former chairman of the 2014 FIFA Normalisation Committee appointed in Guyana, to the ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive being led by William Wallace.
Urling sought to clear the air on whether it was the world governing body for the sport of football, FIFA, which puts out the funding in the case of a normalisation committee scenario to clear the debt of the TTFA, or if it was incumbent of the normalisation committee to come up with innovative ideas, as well as source funding.
He told Guardian Media Sports on Friday that the chairman of the FIFA appointed normalisation committee Robert Hadad will have 100 per cent power, discretion and responsibility to come up with initiatives and plans to solve the issues of the embattled football administration and FIFA will check it first, before providing the funds.
Officials of the football association recently raised concerns about the little to no progress the committee has had to date under Hadad, a concern that comes almost two months after FIFA, on March 17, agreed to implement the normalisation committee in T&T, based on the burdening debt that was said to be some $50 million and no means or measures to put the association back on a stable footing.
Hadad, who was appointed alongside his deputy Judy Daniel, an Attorney and environmentalist, and Nigel Romano, who is a retired banker, has since encountered steady resistance from Wallace and his team of vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick, for use of the TTFA letterhead and to secure use of the TTFA’s bank accounts, as well as emerging concerns from new contractors claiming monies from work done on the controversial "Home of Football" in Balmain, Couva.
Urling said while he does not want to impose, he believes that Wallace and his team should join forces with Hadad and his team if they really love the sport of football and the country, saying in Guyana they had to do the same thing.
“In fact, the situation in Guyana was worse than what we see in T&T. The normalisation committee brings a sort of influence for the business and other communities and it is a tremendous help. Back home, it helped us with securing sponsors and land etc. We just had to work with the normalisation committee and instead of the two years given, we were able to turn the sport around in a year.”
Urling then turned to Wallace and company, saying it is useless trying to fight FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, as the sport’s governing body acted within its legal right to appoint a committee.
“There is no other document clearer than the FIFA Statutes, so I can’t understand why a legal person would attempt to convince the TTFA members that they have a fighting chance. The fact is that they cannot win the FIFA. Okay, let's say that the TTFA wins the FIFA at the CAS, then the FIFA would simply invoke its clause that refers to no political interference and still ban the TTFA. Who is to say they would not do it, they have done it before, so who suffers then, isn’t it the country and the sport.”
“I sympathise with Wallace and his team, I know how they feel, but emotions have no place in law. In fact, I could recall back in 2015, there were talks to appoint a normalisation committee in T&T under the then president Raymond Tim Kee, so it really does not make a difference if it is appointed now.”
Urling, a businessman by profession said his main concern is if the sport will be properly managed after the exit of the normalisation committee in two years, saying the TTFA must determine where the debt came from in the first place so that the managers of the sport don’t fall back into the same problems they are facing now.
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One set of people who should know better making a set of arguments from ignorance like this Urling character.
Steups. We cannot get ban for winning the CAS case :banginghead:
Jus the fact that Urling is ok with that shows me the lack of character endemic in the Caribbean. Like moonilal writing letter to the US. steups.
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One set of people who should know better making a set of arguments from ignorance like this Urling character.
Steups. We cannot get ban for winning the CAS case :banginghead:
Jus the fact that Urling is ok with that shows me the lack of character endemic in the Caribbean. Like moonilal writing letter to the US. steups.
ah lord boy, FF i’m not going to lie, i’m already exhausted with all this bullshit going on and it seems like the harder the ttfa tries it’s the harder it get’s for wallace and company to fight this case especially when he has zero support from no where, not the government, not CFU, not concacaf, not the leagues not no where, the man all alone with no refuge between the devil and the deep blue sea.
just last night I heard fenwick asking for the ttfa to come to an agreement with hadad for the sake of football,can you imagine that, after no one in trinidad wanted to take a chance on fenwick? yuh know if I was wallace I would’ve just stepped aside and let them do their do and wait it out for the next election, either that or forget trinidad football. it seems like the tide is already set for the ttfa to either tire due to pressure, or for wallace to bow out disgracefully.
as for this guyanese bloke, this is not the first time he’s trying to give the ttfa advice on the way forward, and it’s actually the same recommendation, cut the rope and play along.
speaking of playing along, I knew jack warner was supporting wallace candidacy, ah wonder if warner still advising him, and what would be his resolution to all the obstacles rendered by FIFA as jack knows all the games inside out played by FIFA, being once an insider in the workings of FIFA. if I was WW I would’ve stepped aside and let fifa play their dirty hand, but that’s just me, after all I can’t take pressure my belly very thin.
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Here we have another trafficker of ignorance dressed up as irrefutable truth. I'm beginning to wonder about the longevity of the English-speaking Caribbean and the prospect of coexisting progressive values.
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Here we have another trafficker of ignorance dressed up as irrefutable truth. I'm beginning to wonder about the longevity of the English-speaking Caribbean and the prospect of coexisting progressive values.
you are a very informed bloke so I want to ask a pertinent question. It seem to be the narrative among most football gurus in trinidad that the normalization committee will eventually fix all the debt and FIFA would pay it off and the new president would have a debt free tenure come next election, but i seriously doubt that, can you clarify?
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Here we have another trafficker of ignorance dressed up as irrefutable truth. I'm beginning to wonder about the longevity of the English-speaking Caribbean and the prospect of coexisting progressive values.
you are a very informed bloke so I want to ask a pertinent question. It seem to be the narrative among most football gurus in trinidad that the normalization committee will eventually fix all the debt and FIFA would pay it off and the new president would have a debt free tenure come next election, but i seriously doubt that, can you clarify?
As that would be a departure from the ordinary expectation and approach, those who espouse that view should take to the airwaves to articulate - without speculation or obfuscation - why the circumstances of the TTFA are outside the ordinary. Dahis where de rubber meets de road. I wouldn't bet on dem touching down to speak publicly and transparently.
I will touch this topic again building on a response I had to a post by GOP.
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Here we have another trafficker of ignorance dressed up as irrefutable truth. I'm beginning to wonder about the longevity of the English-speaking Caribbean and the prospect of coexisting progressive values.
you are a very informed bloke so I want to ask a pertinent question. It seem to be the narrative among most football gurus in trinidad that the normalization committee will eventually fix all the debt and FIFA would pay it off and the new president would have a debt free tenure come next election, but i seriously doubt that, can you clarify?
As that would be a departure from the ordinary expectation and approach, those who espouse that view should take to the airwaves to articulate - without speculation or obfuscation - why the circumstances of the TTFA are outside the ordinary. Dahis where de rubber meets de road. I wouldn't bet on dem touching down to speak publicly and transparently.
I will touch this topic again building on a response I had to a post by GOP.
so from all the information you've gathered since this whole debacle, do you believe that fifa would be paying this 50 million debt off, or are these foolish people in football only deceiving themselves, because if FIFA wants to pay off the debt, then if i was WW I would step aside and allow them too,
but somehow from the first article I read on the installation of the normalization committee I understood that they are only there to formulate a payment plan and would not be taking on any debt relief ala paying off one thin dime of the ttfa debt, can you or anyone else correct me if I’m wrong?
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Here we have another trafficker of ignorance dressed up as irrefutable truth. I'm beginning to wonder about the longevity of the English-speaking Caribbean and the prospect of coexisting progressive values.
you are a very informed bloke so I want to ask a pertinent question. It seem to be the narrative among most football gurus in trinidad that the normalization committee will eventually fix all the debt and FIFA would pay it off and the new president would have a debt free tenure come next election, but i seriously doubt that, can you clarify?
As that would be a departure from the ordinary expectation and approach, those who espouse that view should take to the airwaves to articulate - without speculation or obfuscation - why the circumstances of the TTFA are outside the ordinary. Dahis where de rubber meets de road. I wouldn't bet on dem touching down to speak publicly and transparently.
I will touch this topic again building on a response I had to a post by GOP.
so from all the information you've gathered since this whole debacle, do you believe that fifa would be paying this 50 million debt off, or are these foolish people in football only deceiving themselves, because if FIFA wants to pay off the debt, then if i was WW I would step aside and allow them too,
but somehow from the first article I read on the installation of the normalization committee I understood that they are only there to formulate a payment plan and would not be taking on any debt relief ala paying off one thin dime of the ttfa debt, can you or anyone else correct me if I’m wrong?
Those on one side have gradually crafted a narrative that positions WW as being an obstacle to progress. Who is defined as obstructionist is correlated to how one defines progress and the agenda one wants advanced at the TTFA.
The CAS appeal and its ancillary events (bank account, letterhead, salaries etc.) inherently bring a demonization of the elected TTFA directorate because they are public actions that necessarily require non-cooperating responses.
The question is: are there any other actors whose actions are to be viewed as obstructionist? If the answer to that question is yes, those actors are not taking actions that are engaging the public attention of stakeholders. The battle is being waged in the court of public opinion and privately.
Ask yourself why FIFA wouldn't merely state to WW and company and the nation, if you (WW ) back off we will resolve the TTFA's affairs and settle its debt. And ask yourself whether FIFA could make that represention explicitly.
Be wary of narratives that traffic absolutes.
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I do hope WW keep his distance from JW. I do not want that man anywhere near our football. As much as we went to the WC under him, his actions has caused unimaginable damage to our football. It made managing the financial aspects of our football impotent. >:(
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So I guess I got my answer :D :rotfl:
Fenwick lucky Wallace and LL select him, SH would have backed Wallace and saw thru this fifa undermining and supported the rest right position
Fenwick so thirsty to coach the national team that his morality is starting to crumble ...
Smh
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Fenwick has never shown you any other side. Very talented manager and one of the best in our country, but nothing about his past should have made you expect another outcome. The guy loves football and wants to manage the NT, simple.
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FIFA’s Normalisation Committee: Underhanded colonialism?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
The battle rages on between FIFA, the ex-TTFA (T&T Football Association) executive and periodically, FIFA’s imposed Normalisation Committee. Hopefully, the government has received the message and is staying out.
Strangely enough, I haven’t heard about the salaries owed to staff but up to Tuesday, they remained unpaid and addressing this is supposedly the first assignment of the normalisation committee.
Surely, by now, some arrangement should have been worked out with FIFA and that funding ought to have been enough to pay the salaries of the employees. Perhaps the normalisation committee should give it to the ex-TTFA officials to pay the employees; after all, it is cruel for them to remain unpaid.
But one thing remains abundantly clear of the 33 FIFA members placed under a normalisation committee since 2004: only one was not fully guilty of all the infractions cited by FIFA that would trigger the enaction of a normalisation committee. Can you take a guess which one? These so-called normalisation committees are often perceived as FIFA’s most lethal weapon designed to either remove an association’s executive or work alongside its members when they wish.
But in most cases, the former is chosen simply because those running the member association are not allies of FIFA’s hierarchy. The former TTFA executive was working on a long-term plan to reduce its debt and implement sustainable financial management policies and procedures. After all, they were in office for only three months which begs so many questions on what exactly influenced the imposition of this normalisation committee.
Cast your mind back or undertake some personal research to find out who was openly one of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s earliest and eventual strongest allies in the Caribbean region? Who was the first Caribbean Football Union (CFU) member association president to support Infantino’s presidential campaign in 2016?
Then let us not forget Infantino’s visit to T&T just six days before the TTFA’s election in November 2019 to support his obvious preferred candidate who lost the election and all hell then, unfortunately, broke loose.
How dare these obnoxious, democratically elected voters not vote for Infantino’s main man? After all, the debt was growing, football was going backward, our men’s team could only beat Anguilla and our women looked disjointed and lacked any team spirit. But most importantly, FIFA was notified through various means about the brewing disaster within T&T’s football and was repeatedly requested to intervene from 2017 - 2019 and decided to do nothing. Why?
Presently in Kenya, the country’s highest sports arbitration body, the Sports Disputes Tribunal has formally requested FIFA to step in and appoint a normalisation committee for the purpose of holding the elections of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF). This request was made on February 17, 2020 and nothing has happened with Kenya’s football elections.
I could go back to 2017 and rehash the state of Kenya’s football and the ongoing problems but that is their business. However, all I will say is just guess who the president of FKF is a strong ally of and you will understand why no normalisation committee has moved into their football.
Do I still need to point out why a normalisation committee was put in place here in T&T’s football? It certainly had very little to do with the state and finances of our football which it should have done over two and a half years ago. But like a spoiled child, a grown man in FIFA did not get the toy he wanted for Christmas and uses the weapon of a normalisation committee to scar our football. Yet still, we have people in this country openly approving this dirty underhand take over of our democratically elected officials.
I must say, I was extremely disappointed to hear the men’s national coach’s comments on this impasse but I do understand he has a job to protect. The gentleman’s indisputable passion for the game of football is second to none. I know many are suffering from this dispute with football fans upset but sometimes it is better to not comment. Your job, when the time arises, is to coach and get results for our national team and I want to hear what your plans are for taking T&T’s football forward. As a national coach, it is best to stay out of politics.
Then there are those from outside like the former chairman of FIFA’s 2014 normalisation committee appointed to Guyana. Quite frankly, I don’t wish to hear from him unless he is going to first tell us just how different were the circumstances in which that normalisation committee was appointed. For him to say, “I sympathise with Wallace and his team, I know how they feel…” shows that he lacks any understanding of this issue. Surprisingly enough, the former Chairman made mention that, “... in 2015 there were talks to appoint a normalisation committee (to T&T) so it really does not make a difference if it is appointed now.” Oh no Sir, it does make a difference.
Remember, in 2015 a new kid came on the block and supported a certain person running for FIFA president so naturally, the idea of a normalisation committee was then dead and buried until that new kid lost the election in 2019. Former chairman of Guyana’s normalisation committee, minding your own business can be challenging indeed.
Then there is the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), who says the body is not dead but his association is like a ghost so it may as well be dead. You see, there is no longer unity in Caribbean football. It is each for thyself and those who survive, fine, but those sinking, let them sink because you can get into serious difficulty with no assistance from FIFA.
No one has the fortitude quite like Jack Warner did to say to Infantino and company, give this newly elected executive a chance; assign someone from FIFA to work with them and let them find their way out of this mess they inherited. But instead, FIFA comes with this colonialist-style of imposition with a normalisation committee to essentially rob a new executive of a chance to sort out its own affairs and there are people here in support of this.
I will continue to tell William Wallace to listen to Robert Nestor Marley, "Get up stand up, stand up for your rights".
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Jack was quite good and pointed in the Andre interview on sports talk on tten.
Don’t know if Anyone has a link.
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FIFA’s Normalisation Committee: Underhanded colonialism?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
The battle rages on between FIFA, the ex-TTFA (T&T Football Association) executive and periodically, FIFA’s imposed Normalisation Committee. Hopefully, the government has received the message and is staying out.
Strangely enough, I haven’t heard about the salaries owed to staff but up to Tuesday, they remained unpaid and addressing this is supposedly the first assignment of the normalisation committee.
Surely, by now, some arrangement should have been worked out with FIFA and that funding ought to have been enough to pay the salaries of the employees. Perhaps the normalisation committee should give it to the ex-TTFA officials to pay the employees; after all, it is cruel for them to remain unpaid.
But one thing remains abundantly clear of the 33 FIFA members placed under a normalisation committee since 2004: only one was not fully guilty of all the infractions cited by FIFA that would trigger the enaction of a normalisation committee. Can you take a guess which one? These so-called normalisation committees are often perceived as FIFA’s most lethal weapon designed to either remove an association’s executive or work alongside its members when they wish.
But in most cases, the former is chosen simply because those running the member association are not allies of FIFA’s hierarchy. The former TTFA executive was working on a long-term plan to reduce its debt and implement sustainable financial management policies and procedures. After all, they were in office for only three months which begs so many questions on what exactly influenced the imposition of this normalisation committee.
Cast your mind back or undertake some personal research to find out who was openly one of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s earliest and eventual strongest allies in the Caribbean region? Who was the first Caribbean Football Union (CFU) member association president to support Infantino’s presidential campaign in 2016?
Then let us not forget Infantino’s visit to T&T just six days before the TTFA’s election in November 2019 to support his obvious preferred candidate who lost the election and all hell then, unfortunately, broke loose.
How dare these obnoxious, democratically elected voters not vote for Infantino’s main man? After all, the debt was growing, football was going backward, our men’s team could only beat Anguilla and our women looked disjointed and lacked any team spirit. But most importantly, FIFA was notified through various means about the brewing disaster within T&T’s football and was repeatedly requested to intervene from 2017 - 2019 and decided to do nothing. Why?
Presently in Kenya, the country’s highest sports arbitration body, the Sports Disputes Tribunal has formally requested FIFA to step in and appoint a normalisation committee for the purpose of holding the elections of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF). This request was made on February 17, 2020 and nothing has happened with Kenya’s football elections.
I could go back to 2017 and rehash the state of Kenya’s football and the ongoing problems but that is their business. However, all I will say is just guess who the president of FKF is a strong ally of and you will understand why no normalisation committee has moved into their football.
Do I still need to point out why a normalisation committee was put in place here in T&T’s football? It certainly had very little to do with the state and finances of our football which it should have done over two and a half years ago. But like a spoiled child, a grown man in FIFA did not get the toy he wanted for Christmas and uses the weapon of a normalisation committee to scar our football. Yet still, we have people in this country openly approving this dirty underhand take over of our democratically elected officials.
I must say, I was extremely disappointed to hear the men’s national coach’s comments on this impasse but I do understand he has a job to protect. The gentleman’s indisputable passion for the game of football is second to none. I know many are suffering from this dispute with football fans upset but sometimes it is better to not comment. Your job, when the time arises, is to coach and get results for our national team and I want to hear what your plans are for taking T&T’s football forward. As a national coach, it is best to stay out of politics.
Then there are those from outside like the former chairman of FIFA’s 2014 normalisation committee appointed to Guyana. Quite frankly, I don’t wish to hear from him unless he is going to first tell us just how different were the circumstances in which that normalisation committee was appointed. For him to say, “I sympathise with Wallace and his team, I know how they feel…” shows that he lacks any understanding of this issue. Surprisingly enough, the former Chairman made mention that, “... in 2015 there were talks to appoint a normalisation committee (to T&T) so it really does not make a difference if it is appointed now.” Oh no Sir, it does make a difference.
Remember, in 2015 a new kid came on the block and supported a certain person running for FIFA president so naturally, the idea of a normalisation committee was then dead and buried until that new kid lost the election in 2019. Former chairman of Guyana’s normalisation committee, minding your own business can be challenging indeed.
Then there is the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), who says the body is not dead but his association is like a ghost so it may as well be dead. You see, there is no longer unity in Caribbean football. It is each for thyself and those who survive, fine, but those sinking, let them sink because you can get into serious difficulty with no assistance from FIFA.
No one has the fortitude quite like Jack Warner did to say to Infantino and company, give this newly elected executive a chance; assign someone from FIFA to work with them and let them find their way out of this mess they inherited. But instead, FIFA comes with this colonialist-style of imposition with a normalisation committee to essentially rob a new executive of a chance to sort out its own affairs and there are people here in support of this.
I will continue to tell William Wallace to listen to Robert Nestor Marley, "Get up stand up, stand up for your rights".
Finally someone using the right terminology in this... colonialism like I’ve been saying
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decent article.
though I'd think they should refrain from mentioning Jack as a source for any info.
He's just a stain on the association.
On the flip side.....i don't know why Keith Look Loy sees it necessary to continuously comment on FB about every article dropped and argue vociferiously each time
He may make some good points in between his rants and BS, but he needs some serious PR training.
He cannot be a spokesperson for any org. with that attitude unfortunately --
and i say unfortunate cause he does have a wealth of knowledge to share but it's how he's sharing it is the main issue and ppl ignore or cast him aside because of this
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decent article.
though I'd think they should refrain from mentioning Jack as a source for any info.
He's just a stain on the association.
On the flip side.....i don't know why Keith Look Loy sees it necessary to continuously comment on FB about every article dropped and argue vociferiously each time
He may make some good points in between his rants and BS, but he needs some serious PR training.
He cannot be a spokesperson for any org. with that attitude unfortunately --
and i say unfortunate cause he does have a wealth of knowledge to share but it's how he's sharing it is the main issue and ppl ignore or cast him aside because of this
What sort of battles do popularity contests win?
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Calls for Hadad to give directions
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
The silence of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee Chairman Robert Hadad has become a major concern for some technical officials of the local football fraternity.
Almost six weeks into his tenure as chairman, both coaches and technical officials, who agreed to speak to Guardian Media Sports on the condition of anonymity on Thursday, are calling on Hadad to break his silence and outline what are his plans for local football both financially and from a technical standpoint.
“Mr Hadad held a zoom meeting for technical staff members on April 29 and at the end of it, we left in the say way we started. We don't know what is happening. Are we going to be paid, when will we be paid, will resume training in post-COVID-19, what is happening with the T&T Football Association accounts, what is happening with our national teams and the T&T Pro League, what about our plans for coming qualifiers and tournaments etc,” two coaches asked.
The coaches have also said disappointingly that there have also yet to hear a word from Hadad's deputy, attorney and Environmentalist Judy Daniel, and retired banker and businessman Nigel Romano, who is also a director and partner at More TT and the chairman at National Flour Mills.
The two got the nod to work alongside Hadad from the world governing body for football - FIFA on March 27, when it decided to appoint a normalization committee to manage the affairs of TT football, citing a real risk of insolvency and illiquidity, with no concrete plans of clearing a debt, alleged to be $50 million on March 17.
Two other members are supposed to be added to the committee, upon the appointment of the CONCACAF and the FIFA soon.
Hadad, the HADCO Group of Companies director, was baptized into local football administration with a battle through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), between FIFA and the ousted administration that was led by William Wallace and his three vice president Clynt Taylor, Joseph 'Sam' Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick.
He also had to put his legal personnel on standby to secure ownership of the TTFA letterhead, while, at the same time, challenge Wallace for use of the football association bank accounts.
Hadad is expecting grant and COVID-19 Relief funds from the FIFA but has to wait until he can get used of the TTFA's First Citizens Bank accounts. In the latest saga for the account, the bank has called on both Hadad and Wallace to walk with a legal document showing they have the right to use the account.
The T&T Football Association is in line to receive US$1.2 million (an estimated TT$6.7million), plus a CONCACAF US$160,000 (an estimated TT$1,040,000) grant, as well as an unknown amount for the relief fund to the Normalisation Committee.
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decent article.
though I'd think they should refrain from mentioning Jack as a source for any info.
He's just a stain on the association.
On the flip side.....i don't know why Keith Look Loy sees it necessary to continuously comment on FB about every article dropped and argue vociferiously each time
He may make some good points in between his rants and BS, but he needs some serious PR training.
He cannot be a spokesperson for any org. with that attitude unfortunately --
and i say unfortunate cause he does have a wealth of knowledge to share but it's how he's sharing it is the main issue and ppl ignore or cast him aside because of this
What sort of battles do popularity contests win?
I'm referring to conduct in office or high-ranking position which KLL holds
His manner which he handles situations isn't conducive for someone in that type of position
Yes the situation is difficult but you also want to motivate and push the team forward not be constantly divisive and vociferous in everything you do.
People are not gonna want to work with you or fear providing positive and related feedback
Basically "do as i say" not "do as i do" type of mentality and that's a baddddddddd way to go
I'm not against the new admin. nor KLL, but he really is his own worst enemy at times and refuses to change or take advice it seems sadly
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Calls for Hadad to give directions
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
The silence of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee Chairman Robert Hadad has become a major concern for some technical officials of the local football fraternity.
...
The Chairman is silent because FIFA and CONCACAF have not arrived at definition or consolidation. The name of the game here is not speed or expedience. The name of the game is practicability. There is a hierarchy of concerns, not merely one concern.
Allyuh better hope Hadad doh bolt de stable.
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decent article.
though I'd think they should refrain from mentioning Jack as a source for any info.
He's just a stain on the association.
On the flip side.....i don't know why Keith Look Loy sees it necessary to continuously comment on FB about every article dropped and argue vociferiously each time
He may make some good points in between his rants and BS, but he needs some serious PR training.
He cannot be a spokesperson for any org. with that attitude unfortunately --
and i say unfortunate cause he does have a wealth of knowledge to share but it's how he's sharing it is the main issue and ppl ignore or cast him aside because of this
What sort of battles do popularity contests win?
I'm referring to conduct in office or high-ranking position which KLL holds
His manner which he handles situations isn't conducive for someone in that type of position
Yes the situation is difficult but you also want to motivate and push the team forward not be constantly divisive and vociferous in everything you do.
People are not gonna want to work with you or fear providing positive and related feedback
Basically "do as i say" not "do as i do" type of mentality and that's a baddddddddd way to go
I'm not against the new admin. nor KLL, but he really is his own worst enemy at times and refuses to change or take advice it seems sadly
I direct you to Yorke's observations of Keane, currently trending on the Yorke thread: 'Keano will live by the sword and die by the sword.'
Convictions are swords. Whether the policy is one of scorching the earth or one of speaking truth to power or one of speaking truth to ignoramuses, convictions are swords and their bearers tend to sleep well, tend to be comfortable bearing them and comfortable looking in the mirror.
What's the solution, sharpen the sword or dull the blade?
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Jack was quite good and pointed in the Andre interview on sports talk on tten.
Don’t know if Anyone has a link.
Would love to hear that!
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Jack was quite good and pointed in the Andre interview on sports talk on tten.
Don’t know if Anyone has a link.
Would love to hear that!
Jack was hitting DJW some virtual lash, and Andre didn't step up to deflect the blows. Andre tried to change subject by referring to JAW own problems. Jack say, he ain't thief, money pass, and money still passing , or something to that effect. He said he believe in the Wallace admin and also commented on the ghost of the CFU. It was sometimes quite funny. Jack want to know how come the President of Concacaf receiving million dollar salary, and is outside the Caribbean region, when Caribbean has 27 votes of 41. "Never in my time". Jack say as salary as VP fifa (or maybe wa spres. of concacaf) he didn't even get 2 kaiser balls.
Add: I think Jack commented on everything current, except the tainted wildmeat. Tman, seeker y’all can’t get from the network?
https://www.facebook.com/ttenmedia/videos/267107451336452/
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‘A set up!’ TTFA accuses CAS of helping Fifa financially bully Wallace, mulls its options
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) opened the possibility of a withdrawal of its case from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today in a move that could have seismic repercussions for its battle with Fifa.
In a legal missive by the TTFA today, the local football body accused CAS of ‘an unacceptable display of apparent institutional bias’ towards Fifa, which has forced a rethink of whether the Switzerland-based body offers a suitable forum for impartial justice.
Notably, president William Wallace said the TTFA is not considering quitting its fight altogether but simply mulling over the right venue for its battle. The local football body is represented by attorneys Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne.
“Having gone down a road and clearly seeing the obstacles that present themselves down that particular road,” Wallace told Wired868. “[…] It does not seem to make sense [to continue]. Our lawyers are experienced and they have been down this road before and they are seeing a different response from CAS than what they have witnessed before.
“So they have advised us and we are going with their advice. It is unfortunate [but] the direction we were pointed in, we feel we are basically being set up.”
The TTFA had appealed a ruling by the Bureau of the Fifa Council to implement a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago on 17 March 2020. The Bureau, which is headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, claimed its decision was due to the TTFA’s ‘extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt’ which put it in ‘a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity’.
Wallace was elected TTFA president on 24 November 2019 and the vast majority of the debt and financial management methods identified by Fifa were inherited from his predecessor, David John-Williams.
Ironically, John-Williams holds a Fifa position at present—he is a Fifa Players’ Status Committee member—and, rather than castigate him for the TTFA’s financially precarious position, Infantino publicly declared him a ‘teammate’, just six days before the local football body’s election.
Wallace claimed that Fifa’s decision to remove him from the helm of the TTFA was done as revenge for his electoral success over ‘DJW’ and to potentially stave off an investigation into the controversial TTFA Home of Football project, which was constructed under John-Williams’ supervision and received at least US$2.5 million (TT$17 million) in funding from Fifa.
CAS may no longer be the appropriate forum for that dispute. Like Fifa, the global sport arbitration body is also based in Switzerland. The former is headquartered in Zurich while the latter has its office in Lausanne.
The TTFA’s attorneys suggested that the relationship between the two bodies may not end with shared geographic borders. Wallace said CAS appeared to be helping Fifa exploit its financial advantage over the local football body.
“We believe that they know we have set up a ‘go fund me’ account and we are strapped for cash,” said Wallace, “so they are using different means to frustrate us to pull out of the process. Based on what we have seen, we have started to question the independence of CAS.”
Gayle spelt out their concerns in a letter to CAS today, which accused the body of not only driving up its legal costs but unfairly saddling the TTFA with them.
CAS asked the cash-strapped TTFA to pay CHF 40,000 (TT$277,000) by 20 May 2020, which was the entire cost for arbitration, while Fifa, a billion dollar enterprise, was not required to spend a cent until after the matter is heard—although the latter organisation tripled the cost of the proceedings by requesting three arbiters instead of one.
“The default rule in any fair and balanced arbitral proceedings is that the appellants and the respondents each pay 50% of the advance costs,” stated Gayle. “We note, with concern, that [Fifa] did not give any indication as to its position on the advance costs, but instead it was the purportedly independent tribunal administrators who took it upon itself to inform the [TTFA] that ‘as a general rule, Fifa does not pay any arbitration costs in advance’.
“The CAS then proceeds to inform the [TTFA]—again, without any indication from [Fifa] that they would not indeed advance their share of the exorbitant arbitration costs—that ‘the [TTFA] has to pay the entirety of the advance of costs’.
“This is made all the more alarming since the same purportedly independent tribunal had accepted without question the submission of [Fifa] to have the matter heard by three arbitrators, therein tripling the costs.
“On its face, therefore, the CAS appears to be a willing participant in [Fifa’s] gamesmanship, especially if the CAS had institutional knowledge that [Fifa]—an entity with immeasurable financial resources—would not be advancing their share of the arbitration costs… This is at least an unacceptable display of apparent institutional bias.”
Gayle noted too that, although travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic means the entire matter will be heard via video conferencing, CAS did not offer a discount on its fees—despite, presumably, not having to foot the cost of airfare and accommodation for its judges.
CAS generally charges between CHF 8,000 and 15,000 (TT$55,500 and $104,000) per arbiter.
“No breakdown of this exorbitant fee was provided, particularly since the hearing would have likely taken place by videoconference,” stated the TTFA’s attorney, “and the usual travel costs of the panel and the CAS’ counsel would have been eliminated.
“Instead, the fee seems to have been unaffected. To that end, we are genuinely unsure how the CAS facilitates access to justice with such extravagant fees. The [TTFA is] not from the developed world, nor are they as well-financed as [Fifa].”
On 6 April, the TTFA paid CHF 1,000 (TT$6,900) to register their case with CAS. Fifa was then presumed to have 20 days to file their response.
Instead, the Infantino-led body, which would have received the TTFA’s submission, said it would only lodge its response after Wallace paid arbitration fees for both parties. Gayle suggested that Fifa was being allowed to set its own deadlines.
“[Fifa] also issued a letter to the CAS indicating that their deadline to file their answer must therefore be suspended until the [TTFA] settles the entirety of the exorbitant arbitration fees,” stated Gayle. “Though the plain reading of the rule under which [Fifa] applied for this extension of their deadline would appear to presume the [Fifa] would be paying their 50% of the advance costs, the CAS once again ruled that [Fifa] would be able to benefit from this extension.
“To compound the perception of institutional bias, the letter from the CAS informing the [TTFA] of CAS’ ruling, is the very same correspondence which informed the TTFA that [Fifa] had made the request, meaning that the CAS had ruled without even giving the [TTFA] the opportunity to be heard.”
Wallace said he will meet with TTFA vice-presidents, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, and their legal team to decide what happens next.
“We are considering our next option, we have not decided yet,” said Wallace. “The group will meet, discuss and decide what our next move is.”
Fifa’s refusal to recognise Wallace coupled with an inability to legally install its proposed normalisation committee of Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano has created gridlock and instability within the local game.
The world governing body does not offer an internal mechanism to appeal a decision by the Bureau of the Fifa Council.
However, Fifa is due to hold its annual Congress this September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and all 210 members should be in attendance. In theory, Wallace’s best chance of forcing a climbdown from Infantino may be to convince Fifa member associations to support the tiny twin island republic—a feat he failed to pull off within the Caribbean.
But it would be extremely difficult for the besieged administrator to get an invitation to the Congress, since Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura was clear that Hadad was considered the TTFA’s current boss.
Otherwise, the TTFA’s only source of redress outside of the courts may be the local courts, which comes with certain risks attached.
Although Wallace can only be legally removed through a vote by three quarter of the TTFA’s 47 delegates, Fifa has the power to suspend the local football body and block its participation in international competitions.
Wallace declined comment on a possible Fifa ban for the TTFA—or even individual members—until after further talks with his colleagues and attorneys. He disagreed that a withdrawal from the CAS hearing could give Fifa the upper hand.
“There is no advantage until we decide what our next step is,” said Wallace. “If from where FIFA sits they really think [the implementation of a normalisation committee] was justifiable, I don’t think they would have had an issue pursuing it.
“I think it is because they cannot totally justify their actions that this has happened.”
For his part, Gayle made it clear that the TTFA was unhappy with the treatment meted out by CAS so far.
“To sum up, [Fifa] and the CAS caused the arbitration fees to triple,” Gayle told CAS. “The arbitration fees themselves are excessive per se, especially since the proceedings were likely to take place by videoconferencing due to the CAS’ Emergency Guidelines.
“The CAS then took it upon itself to indicate that [Fifa] would not be paying their share of those excessive fees, and placed the entire financial burden on the TTFA—all of whom are domiciled in a developing country.
“After that unilateral act by the CAS, [Fifa] then sought to have their deadline to file their answer [to the TTFA’s legal submission] suspended. In effect, [Fifa] secured an automatic extension and apparently knew that it would indeed succeed in this regard.
“To be clear, even if our clients applied to the CAS for legal aid, it would still not remedy the apparent institutional bias that has arisen. As it stands, there are very real doubts that the CAS remains an appropriate and fair forum for the resolution of this dispute.”
The TTFA’s accusation of bias towards Fifa comes just weeks after Switzerland attorney general Michael Lauber was fined eight percent of his salary and removed from investigations of corruption into football, due to revelations of a secret meeting with Infantino in 2017.
Lauber failed to properly declare the meeting with the Fifa president, who is an attorney by trade, and only acknowledged it after it was reported in the media.
Last month, Switzerland’s Federal Court rejected Lauber’s bid to rejoin investigations into Fifa and upheld a lower court ruling that the attorney general should ‘recuse himself from the federal prosecutors’ probe’.
TTFA technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy, who was a key mover behind the electoral campaign of Wallace’s ‘United TTFA’ slate, insisted that the fight is far from over.
“It must be understood that this letter to CAS is not a withdrawal of the Wallace case,” said Look Loy. “It merely expresses the TTFA executives’ legitimate concern at the behaviour of the court in its handling of this matter—a concern which I share. One could easily conclude that CAS is behaving almost as FIFA’s agent.
“Whether the case is withdrawn from CAS and another course of action is undertaken is now subject to discussion. All options remain available and will be examined.
“But anyone who believes the resistance to FIFA and its so called normalisation committee is ended is sorely mistaken.”
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United TTFA dumps CAS to fight FIFA in T&T High Court.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
The ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) team of William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy has taken its fight against the FIFA, football's governing body, to the High Court of T&T.
The group lodged a brief on Monday, citing a combination of factors such as unfairness, a belief that they will not get a fair trial at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, their will to upkeep the tenets of democracy in T&T, to a belief that the CAS was blatantly disregarding its own Statutes.
The FIFA statutes also spell out clearly that Member Associations cannot take it to its local court and could face a ban if this happens.
Upon the submission of their brief, the team also requested: "A Declaration that the purported decision of the Defendant dated March 17, 2020, purporting to remove the Claimant's duly elected executive is null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect; A permanent injunction preventing the Defendant from interfering in, and/or seeking to override the fair and transparent democratic processes of the Claimant and/or from attempting removing the Claimant's duly elected executive from office; A permanent injunction preventing the Defendant and/or its agents and/or assigns and/or servants from interfering in the day-to-day management of the Claimant, including the Claimant's bank accounts and real property; disobey unjust laws."
The group quoted extensively from the Constitution of T&T, saying: “We recognise that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and the rule of law. TTFA constitution places a duty of care on the elected officials of the association to protect the interests of its members."
The group successfully contested the TTFA elections on November 24, 2019 and was replaced by a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee after less than four months in office.
However, its attempt at justice through CAS encountered a major hurdle when CAS went against the mandatory process by asking the TTFA to cover the total cost for both parties.
The sport's governing body later refused to pay its part of arbitral proceedings ($20,000 Swiss Francs) when it was ordered by CAS. The group said it was after serious consideration that it decided to use the high court as its means of justice.
The group believes the real reason for FIFA unwarranted and illegal interference in TTFA's internal business is to cover up the financial mismanagement and illegal actions of the last administration, including the failure to provide contracts for the expenditure of TT$16 million on the "Home of Football" in Couva, the issuance of dozens of cheques against TTFA accounts that had insufficient funds (“bounced cheques”), and failure to pay to relevant statutory authorities the sum of TT$4 million deducted from employees' salaries.
“The fact is that FIFA (in the person of Veron Mosengo-Omba, Chief of Member Associations) repeatedly ignored efforts by TTFA Board members to bring said financial issues to its attention," according to the brief.
RELATED NEWS
Wallace: We will prevail!
By Narissa Fraser & Joel Bailey (Newsday).
THE former executive body of the TT Football Association (TTFA) says its members do not believe they would get a "fair hearing" under the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and is now appealing to T&T's High Court for its ongoing battle against FIFA.
After only three months in office (March 17), the TTFA executive were removed by FIFA, the world's governing body of football, and replaced by a normalisation committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad. FIFA said this was done due to the TTFA's mounting financial debts.
Since then, the members have insisted they are still in charge of the TTFA's affairs.
In a media release on Monday, Wallace - embattled president of the association - said the financial state of the TTFA was assessed when he came into office and they discovered several issues. A report was then sent to FIFA highlighting those issues and explaining how his executive planned to deal with it.
"Ironically, our discovery is one of the two reasons FIFA used to remove us from office. Even more ironically, FIFA conducts an annual audit at the TTFA and would have done so for the previous four years and never discovered this issue or if it was discovered never demanded that it be fixed."
FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited T&T in November 2019 for the opening of the Home of Football in Balmain, Couva. At that time, the TTFA president was David John-Williams, under whose leadership, a massive portion of the association's debt was created.
Wallace said the "democratically elected TTFA officers" continue to reject FIFA's decision.
The sacked executive, through their lawyers Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne, recently issued an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but had noted its fees were quite hefty.
"In short order, it became clear that CAS was prepared to ignore its own regulations to facilitate FIFA in its handling of TTFA vs FIFA. Specifically, CAS directed the democratically elected TTFA officers to pay (TT $297,000) to cover the entire cost of the proceedings, when its regulations require the two parties to a matter to pay half each.
"It was only in response to the TTFA’s officers’ objection to this glaring denial of its own regulations that CAS called on FIFA to pay its half which FIFA has since refused to do."
Wallace said he doubts they would get a "fair hearing" under CAS, so "after long and hard deliberations," they decided to lodge a brief with the High Court of T&T.
They are requesting the following: A declaration that FIFA's decision to appoint a normalisation committee and to remove the elected members is null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect; a permanent injunction preventing the defendant from interfering or seeking to override the fair and transparent democratic processes of the claimant; a permanent injunction preventing the FIFA and its agents from interfering in the day-to-day management of the claimant, including bank accounts and real property.
Wallace said the real reason for FIFA's decision is to try to "cover up the financial mismanagement and illegal actions of the last administration, including the failure to provide contracts for the expenditure of $16 million on the Home of Football, the issuance of dozens of cheques against TTFA accounts that had insufficient funds and failure to pay to relevant statutory authorities the sum of $4 million deducted from employees’ salaries."
He added that over the years, FIFA has not shown interest in good governance or proper financial management.
"We are guided by the principles of Freedom and Democracy enshrined in the supreme and governing law of T&T – the constitution – under which TTFA is established. We shall prevail."
Newsday posed a question to Hadad, via Whatsapp, on Monday afternoon, asking if he think this move is proof that Wallace and his team are fighting a losing battle or if he is concerned that the High Court may lean towards the removed TTFA executive. Hadad did not respond to Newsday's query up to press time on Monday.
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local courts not a good decision .....
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I only hope that they know what they’re doing, because though successful they could be inviting sanctions or even a ban by fifa. I could only hope that they have all their bases covered and are well counseled in this regard before going forward with this challenge against such a toxic dastardly organization.
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taking a ban might be the only way to get to the bottom of the corruption and mismanagement of the previous administration.
Otherwise everything will be swept under the rug and more of the same will prevail.
Look at it this way. We might as well have been banned the last five years because we have not one damn thing to show. Bet yuh players will still get to go India and Guatemala regardless and local football can continue with empty stadiums. A ban ent doing one shit that we ent do to weself.
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taking a ban might be the only way to get to the bottom of the corruption and mismanagement of the previous administration.
Otherwise everything will be swept under the rug and more of the same will prevail.
Look at it this way. We might as well have been banned the last five years because we have not one damn thing to show. Bet yuh players will still get to go India and Guatemala regardless and local football can continue with empty stadiums. A ban ent doing one shit that we ent do to weself.
but then if they are banned then they still get left in the dark, and they could forget about winning the next election because the stake holders would definitely view them as traitors to football. from my understanding of the situation is that they are dealing with the devil going this route with fifa, it’s a lose lose situation. fifa hands are way too long for these school boys to tussle with, I’m really surprised to see that Wallace have absolutely zero support, not from England , not from America , not from any federation anywhere.
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I’m really surprised to see that Wallace have absolutely zero support, not from England , not from America , not from any federation anywhere.
Honestly, Pull. You expect US and England to support TT. England will never support TT after what what Jack Warner did to damn. And FiFA gives the US a free pass on all infringements. Don't mind Chuck Blazer was is deep corhoots with Jack. US is one of their top cash cow. They eh stepping on the US toes. US will not support us because on any given day we could poison them, like we did in Corva.
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Sancho, Williams, Corneal predict FIFA ban for TTFA.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
"What's the sense of fighting against FIFA when it leads to one outcome, a ban for the country's football from all competitions,” several of this country's top coaches have asked.
Should the country be banned, it would not be able to participate in any football, such as the Caribbean Football Union's (CFU) junior and senior competitions, CONCACAF junior and senior tournaments, World Cup Qualifiers both men and women, International Club football, etc.
Their question sums up a sad irony in a battle of principle versus priority, that led to the T&T Football Association (TTFA), being led by former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents, taking their fight of having a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee replace them as the managers of local football, to the T&T High Court on Monday afternoon, and thereby violating a FIFA Statute that Member Association cannot take its grievance to its local courts.
Former national players Brent Sancho, Alvin Corneal, Brian Williams spoke to Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday and they believe the country faces certain suspension, as was done to the Nigerian Football Federation for government interference in 2010; Cameroon in 2013 for government interference: Indonesia in 2015, while in Pakistan in 2018, the Pakistan Football Federation just missed out on a FIFA sanction for its attempts to use the Supreme Court to settle an election result, as is being attempted here in T&T.
On Monday, the TTFA group of Wallace, vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillip, Susan Joseph-Warrick and supporters Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford submitted a brief in the High Court in Port-of-Spain after it felt that their pursuit of justice for the FIFA removing them without merit, could not be achieved via the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, following a series of events that their lawyers Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle claimed showed an apparent bias by CAS for the world governing body for football.
In an immediate response, Sancho described the action of TTFA as the ultimate indictment on T&T football, asking what will Wallace and his team do if they win or if they do not win in the high court.
"This appears to be a moral stance for Wallace but certainly not for the country. What happens when our footballers cannot look forward to any qualifying competitions at CFU, CONCACAF and World Cup levels. Or what happens when our country cannot play in the World Cup Qualifiers, or even cannot play at the International Club level?" asked Sancho.
"Wallace must tell us if he intends to run football without the support of the FIFA, and otherwise. Also, what happens when our ban is up, will he (Wallace) attempt to have the FIFA statutes changed, or will he rejoin under the same regulations."
Williams, a Strike Squad defender back in 1989 believes Wallace and his team ought to have known what are the consequences of their action, saying it makes no sense to him, as the sport and many young footballers are set to suffer from it.
"I am all for football and the future of the young players. The ones making the decisions do not have careers ahead of them in football, and therefore, I do not think that fight is making any sense,” Williams said.
Corneal, who has represented T&T both as a player and coach, is also predicting a ban by FIFA and has called for more dialogue among the parties to take place. He believes the administrators of the sport in T&T have not even satisfied the people of T&T and therefore should give the normalisation committee a chance to fix the problem.
Meanwhile, an official who is close to the developments and who spoke to Guardian Media Sports on the condition on anonymity, believes that Wallace's team might also benefit should they win in the High court.
"It might be difficult for the FIFA to convince the court that it should appoint a normalisation committee and then ban the TTFA, when they have failed to follow their statutes by failing to pay its part in arbitral proceedings of the CAS, which is the court its statutes directs Members Associations to, in case of justice.
"Although I believe that T&T will be banned, the second thing is that Member Associations cannot be banned by the FIFA itself, but rather by Congress. And with a vote of no-confidence being called on president Gianni Infantino, the TTFA might be in for a fight."
On March 17, FIFA disbanded the TTFA's administration and appointed a normalisation committee on March 27 as it felt that TTFA faced a risk of insolvency and illiquidity.
However, on Monday, the ousted executive of the TTFA asked the court to recognise them as the duly elected and legitimate executive, as well as prevent FIFA from interfering in its operations.
However, article 65 Arbitration of the TTFA Constitution reads:
1 Disputes in the Association or disputes affecting Leagues, members of Leagues, Clubs, members of Clubs, Players, Officials and Officials of other Associations, shall not be submitted to Ordinary Courts, unless the FIFA regulations, this Constitution or binding legal provisions specifically provide for or stipulate recourse to Ordinary Courts.
2 Instead, such disputes as specified in par. 1 shall be taken to an independent Arbitration Tribunal created by TTFA. The Board of Directors shall issue special regulations regarding the composition, jurisdiction and procedural rules of this Arbitration Tribunal.
2 As long as such Arbitration Tribunal has not been duly installed by TTFA and recognised by the General Meeting, any dispute of national dimension may only be referred in the last instance to CAS.
Meanwhile, the team of six in their Court file on Monday stated that after long and hard deliberations, they decided to lodge a brief with the sovereign High Court of T&T, requesting:
1 A Declaration that the purported decision of the Defendant dated the 17th March 2020, purporting to remove the Claimant’s duly elected executive is null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect;
2 A permanent injunction preventing the Defendant from interfering in, and/or seeking to override the fair and transparent democratic processes of the Claimant and/or from attempting removing the Claimant’s duly elected executive from office;
3 A permanent injunction preventing the Defendant and/or its agents and/or assigns and/or servants from interfering in the day-to-day management of the Claimant, including the Claimant’s bank accounts and real property.
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Presumably The Guardian will be publishing in short order an alternate viewpoint to that expressed above? If one asks an arsonist if she predicts a fire or fires in town and she says 'yes', is that prediction? It's not even self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Is the imminent " ban" talked about by FIFA the only legitimate " hammer" they have ? Is this the only alternative they would seek to put public pressure on any opposition to their dictatorial measures?
In my humble opinion, after so many years of corruption and mishandling of FIFA's funds is it now that they would think of dropping the hammer? What is the reason? So that their stooges continue to run the TTFA unopposed? So that the puppets like BS continue to seek some noteriety as a football executive?
Initially I was ready for this Normalization committeee to come in , clean up the debts put the house in order and them let's move back to business. However, I have not seen nor heard of one single solitary plan of action to rectify alleged misgivings of the WW led executive by this so called normalization action?
I BS co tiniest to spew the threats of FIFA - if FIFA is allowed to be the watchdog of all football governances who is the watchdog of FIFA?
In the middle of this power play why should our footballers be subjected to punishment and suffer being barred from representing their country if their is a ban?
Has anyone ever heard of another organization that is willing to operate football among nations outside of FIFA?
The more this goes on the more I pledge my fight to WW and the TTFA
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FIFA has not used or referred to the word ("ban") at all.
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Guatemala and Nigeria lessons for T&T
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
Countries serving recent FIFA suspensions for varying reasons include Guatemala twice, Nigerian, Kenya, Zambia, and Indonesia, Kuwait and Benin. The two cases closest to the Trinidad and Tobago situation appear to be those of Guatemala and Nigeria.
Guatemala missed two Concacaf Gold Cups and were banned from all FIFA competitions until being reinstated on May 31, 2018, when FIFA announced it had lifted the suspension imposed on the Federacion Nacional de Futbol de Guatemala (FEDEFUT).
On Oct 28, 2016, the Guatemalan football federation was suspended indefinitely by FIFA, which stated that FEDEFUT had rejected a normalisation committee’s mandate to run its business, organise elections, and modernise its statutes, and would be barred from international competition. The suspension was only lifted after FEDEFUT’s normalisation committee became fully operational.
During an almost two-year ban, Guatemala national teams and clubs were barred from participating in international competitions. FEDEFUT also received no funding from both FIFA and Concacaf for its national and development programmes. Guatemala missed out on qualifying for the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup tournaments; and the 2017 Copa Centroamericana.
Guatemala also missed out on the qualifying round for the 2019–20 Concacaf Nations League qualifying.
When their ban was eventually lifted, Guatemala were installed in the bottom rung (League C) of the actual Nations League competition and now have to work their way back up to the top league (League A). It was the second time Guatemala were banned by FIFA, the first time being in 2003.
Meanwhile, FIFA allowed a Nigerian dispute to be decided by the Nigerian High Court before banning the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) president Chris Giwa for life and also threatened an immediate ban on the Nigerian federation if it abided by a local court verdict.
In August 2018, lawyer Azdzard Habilla said FIFA could not ban Nigeria from football activities after his client Giwa went to court and won control of the NFF in July 2018. Giwa insisted that he was elected president in a disputed vote back in August 2014. However, FIFA recognised the victory of Amaju Pinnick. Acting on a Nigerian court ruling establishing Giwa as NFF president, Nigerian Sport Minister Solomon Dalung ordered Pinnick and his board to comply with the court and leave the NFF.
For going to a local court, Giwa was issued a worldwide FIFA ban from all football activities. FIFA also issued a statement giving Nigeria until Monday, August 20 to return the BFF offices to Pinnick or the NFF would be suspended with immediate effect. Faced with a FIFA ban, Nigeria rejected Giwa’s claim to leadership and reinstated Pinnick.
It was not the first time that Nigeria had faced a FIFA ban over government interference. FIFA also suspended the country when a Nigerian high court ordered the NFF to hand over the reins of the national team to a government civil servant, after the country’s exit from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Indonesia were banned on June 5, 2014 after the sports ministry and football association failed to resolve a dispute over who ran the game in the country.
In May 2016, FIFA lifted Indonesia’s ban from international competitions but confirmed the suspensions of Kuwait and Benin over government interference in the sport. The suspension ruled Indonesia’s national team out of the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaigns.
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Who wins? High Court action raises fears of impending FIFA ban
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
“Is the moral victory that they are seemingly seeking worth taking Trinidad and Tobago football down this path?” asks former Trinidad and Tobago sports minister Brent Sancho. “I am not here to dispute whether FIFA (is) wrong or right. I'm here to ask a question.”
The implications of the TTFA taking football’s world governing body to the local high court are far reaching and have evoked everything from dread to caution to concern.
Most persons were reluctant to comment officially. Of those who did, Sancho raised concerns of a possible international ban for the country’s football.
Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner felt Sancho’s comment “would not help the Football Association”, while football constitution expert Osmond Downer took a cautious approach.
On Monday, deposed TTFA president William Wallace instructed attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Mathew Gayle to abandon an appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and turn attention instead to T&T’s High Court.
Wallace’s executive had initially petitioned CAS to overturn a decision by FIFA to appoint a normalisation committee to oversee the running of the TTFA until new elections could be held. Elected in November, 2019, Wallace and his team were removed by FIFA just four months later, the world body citing the Association’s heavy debt burden as the main reason for its action.
Most outspoken of those willing to comment, Sancho inquired how Wallace’s executive ever hoped to function with FIFA, having taken them to court.
“There is the possibility of not being able to partake in World Cup qualifiers, under-15, Under-20 and all the age-group tournaments. No women football or club championship,” stated the Central FC club owner, “Who benefits from that?
“At the end of the day, who are the true winners from this? You can’t tell me it’s Trinidad and Tobago football when there is the possibility of being sanctioned.”
Downer, the writer of the TTFA’s constitution, took a cautious approach to the TTFA decision to head to the local courts, a decision which seems in contradiction of point 3 of Article 64 of the FIFA statutes dealing with its members’ obligations to the world organisation.
“The Associations shall insert a clause in their statutes or regulations, stipulating that it is prohibited to take disputes in the Association or disputes affecting Leagues, members of Leagues, clubs, members of clubs, players, officials and other Association Officials to ordinary courts of law,” the statute says.
Article 64 further states, “Instead of recourse to ordinary courts of law, provision shall be made for arbitration. Such disputes shall be taken to an independent and duly constituted arbitration tribunal, recognised under the rules of the Association or Confederation or to CAS.”
“I would not want to comment on whether it is wrong or right,” said Downer, a former school principal, FIFA referee and referees’ instructor.
Further, point two of Article 13 relating to FIFA members’ obligations, states: “Violation of the above-mentioned obligations by any member may lead to sanctions provided for in these statutes.”
Article 14 speaks of suspension of a member and says, “The Congress is responsible for suspending a Member. The Executive Committee may, however, suspend a member that seriously and repeatedly violates its obligations as a member with immediate effect.”
“I have just adopted a wait and see attitude,” Downer said, “I am waiting to see what is the eventual result because it is not as easy as some people think.”
Downer, who preferred that the matter had been handled at CAS, said it would be interesting to see the legal interpretation of what there is in the TTFA constitution.
“Perhaps it would be good to see how a local court will look at it because when you look at it, there is a definite conflict between the two constitutions. Definite conflict,” he added.
Warner initially reserved comment, having not yet read yesterday’s newspaper reports highlighting the issue.
“Let me not say much on that for the time being because that will not help the Football Association (FA) or you,” Warner said.
A prominent FIFA official for nearly three decades until he was forced to resign amidst a 2011 corruption scandal, Warner is now an outspoken critic of the organisation. He took a sympathetic position to Wallace’s plight.
“A wrong has been done against the Football Association and not a single media house has stood up in their defence and for me, that is very painful,” he said,
Corrected and informed that Wallace’s point of view has been regularly vented on both newspaper and television, Warner instead diverted from the issue - that being of the consequence of the TTFA taking FIFA before a local court.
“Everything in Trinidad has gone to the one-percenters. They claim football and nobody see nothing wrong with that,” he ranted. “The last thing that the black man had was football and that has been lost. That has been taken away.”
Warner promised to read further into the issue and call back. He did not, neither did he answer his phone later on.
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FIFA putting plaster on badly infected sore
T&T Newsday
THE EDITOR: I have great respect for Arthur Suite’s views on matters of football as he has been in the trenches and has contributed immensely to the game in TT, and clearly is someone who is interested primarily in the development of the game here.
Notwithstanding the relevance and validity of the points he has raised in his letter of May 12, headed “Transparency vital from FIFA in TT,” I disagree with his conclusion that all should be realistic and capitulate to the wishes and action taken by FIFA.
I disagree because the installation of the normalisation committee is a plaster on a badly infected sore. The issue is not only finance. It is about having an executive that has been properly elected and respected by the clubs, and allowing them to build the capacity to, once and for all, run the institution in a way that it can change and survive in the long run, and rid itself of a deep-seated culture of corruption and mismanagement.
This brings me to the arrowhead of my disagreement with Suite. Why did FIFA wait till after the duly constituted elections (four months after) to take this course of action? Why did it not do so during the tenure of the predecessors who brought the association to its knees? Or for that matter Raymond Tim Kee (RIP) or many of the others?
The answer is clear, at least to people who have been familiar with the TTFA’s cloned FIFA culture. It is because the winners were not the ones FIFA was backing.
The TTFA has long had in place a culture of facilitating the appointment of those who have supported officials irrespective of their capabilities etc.
This is a FIFA thing well ingrained. This is about having personnel who can guarantee a vote at FIFA’s congress.
To allow this to happen would be retrograde and damaging to the advances made in ensuring proper elections and the installation of capable and willing people. It would be an infusion of the corrupt culture that has the association where it is today. The financial problems are a symptom of this cultural disease.
The proper thing for FIFA to do is to work with the elected executive to achieve the objectives it deems appropriate, assuming its motives are bona fide. The country should rally around the elected officials to achieve this, given the points raised by Suite about FIFA’s intrusive power.
As a footnote, attention should be paid to increasing moves to have the FIFA president investigated.
BRIAN GHENT
Maraval
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“Is the moral victory that they are seemingly seeking worth taking Trinidad and Tobago football down this path?” asks former Trinidad and Tobago sports minister Brent Sancho.
F---k, yes!!!
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Guatemala and Nigeria lessons for T&T
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
Countries serving recent FIFA suspensions for varying reasons include Guatemala twice, Nigerian, Kenya, Zambia, and Indonesia, Kuwait and Benin. The two cases closest to the Trinidad and Tobago situation appear to be those of Guatemala and Nigeria.
Guatemala missed two Concacaf Gold Cups and were banned from all FIFA competitions until being reinstated on May 31, 2018, when FIFA announced it had lifted the suspension imposed on the Federacion Nacional de Futbol de Guatemala (FEDEFUT).
On Oct 28, 2016, the Guatemalan football federation was suspended indefinitely by FIFA, which stated that FEDEFUT had rejected a normalisation committee’s mandate to run its business, organise elections, and modernise its statutes, and would be barred from international competition. The suspension was only lifted after FEDEFUT’s normalisation committee became fully operational.
During an almost two-year ban, Guatemala national teams and clubs were barred from participating in international competitions. FEDEFUT also received no funding from both FIFA and Concacaf for its national and development programmes. Guatemala missed out on qualifying for the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup tournaments; and the 2017 Copa Centroamericana.
Guatemala also missed out on the qualifying round for the 2019–20 Concacaf Nations League qualifying.
When their ban was eventually lifted, Guatemala were installed in the bottom rung (League C) of the actual Nations League competition and now have to work their way back up to the top league (League A). It was the second time Guatemala were banned by FIFA, the first time being in 2003.
Meanwhile, FIFA allowed a Nigerian dispute to be decided by the Nigerian High Court before banning the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) president Chris Giwa for life and also threatened an immediate ban on the Nigerian federation if it abided by a local court verdict.
In August 2018, lawyer Azdzard Habilla said FIFA could not ban Nigeria from football activities after his client Giwa went to court and won control of the NFF in July 2018. Giwa insisted that he was elected president in a disputed vote back in August 2014. However, FIFA recognised the victory of Amaju Pinnick. Acting on a Nigerian court ruling establishing Giwa as NFF president, Nigerian Sport Minister Solomon Dalung ordered Pinnick and his board to comply with the court and leave the NFF.
For going to a local court, Giwa was issued a worldwide FIFA ban from all football activities. FIFA also issued a statement giving Nigeria until Monday, August 20 to return the BFF offices to Pinnick or the NFF would be suspended with immediate effect. Faced with a FIFA ban, Nigeria rejected Giwa’s claim to leadership and reinstated Pinnick.
It was not the first time that Nigeria had faced a FIFA ban over government interference. FIFA also suspended the country when a Nigerian high court ordered the NFF to hand over the reins of the national team to a government civil servant, after the country’s exit from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Indonesia were banned on June 5, 2014 after the sports ministry and football association failed to resolve a dispute over who ran the game in the country.
In May 2016, FIFA lifted Indonesia’s ban from international competitions but confirmed the suspensions of Kuwait and Benin over government interference in the sport. The suspension ruled Indonesia’s national team out of the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaigns.
Mr. Prescott, you present seductive examples as purported lessons of caution for T&T, but, your seduction by the Guatemalan and Nigerian experiences has neglected discussion of the key distinguishing feature. More than occasionally a journey is as significant as its destination.
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Just listen to Brent sancho about Wallace’s intentions being selfish, but what about you brent when you cleaned out the ttfa office under timkee and took balls tables type writers anything you could put your paws on?
if you’re so concerned about trinbago football then why don’t you with draw your claim, you and the rest of sharks coming for the ttfa bank account demanded phantom money from a decade ago? mate it’s better for your image if you just shut up and keep quiet. bloody hypocrite.
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Well brace for impact, finally our football is coming in for a crash landing. Fok it, it’s ether this way or no way at all. the ban is inevitable and I welcome it, fok that. if I can’t have justice then I’ll take banishment.
I sure hope that fat ugly prik from Moruga is happy with himself, he first utterly destroyed football, then he sobotaged it when he couldn’t have his way, I’m certainly not an advocate for violence but if anyone needed ....... it’s this fat ugly f**k from W connection. that bastard brought football to it’s knees in TT.
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As someone once said, "He who allows oppression shares the crime."
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TTFA must stand up to FIFA
T&T Express
I became extremely elated on reading that the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) was fully supportive of the position of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in its imbrogolio with FIFA.
Perhaps I need to remind us that TTFA is the national body established by an act of Parliament and is the only legal body to represent and adjudicate in all matters pertaining to football in Trinidad and Tobago.
Elucidation of that point, coming from the Ministry of Sport would have assisted T&T in this intrusion by FIFA.
It was shameful to witness some of the biggest names in our soccer history ready to toss this elected executive to the Federation International Football Association (FIFA).
Even though we can be banned from football globally by FIFA, it would be a severe miscarriage of justice for this group of representatives who have not contributed in anyway to this state of affairs. While we would abhor that occurrence, there remain things supremely more important in life than a game of soccer.
Must we accept that words like honesty, principle, fairplay, integrity and always doing the right thing, have now been discarded from our society?
If that’s the case, then the Mighty Duke was right when he said in song— “We are running short of role models to inspire the children’’.
The TTFA executive needs our total support in challenging FIFA in this issue. I would suggest that this TTFA executive call on the five soccer federations to support this stance.
I expect some negative comments to be voiced but I am a believer in asking a question and getting an answer as opposed to not asking and assuming an answer. The message I am sending to the TTFA executive is to exploit every option open to them in dealing with FIFA.
Make the five federations— Africa, Asia, Concacaf, Europe and South America—aware of your plight and seeking their support is your trump card. Give this some serious thought. Always be bold when your back is against the wall. Don’t cringe under the audacity of FIFA.
Michael Franco
via e-mail
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When justification is not enough
T&T Guardian
Dear Editor,
In the current worrying dispute between the elected body of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), better known as United TTFA, and FIFA, a new twist threatens to plunge our football into unfathomable depths.
While the sudden firing of the democratically elected board deserved some degree of outrage, many people within football could accept this decision as a means to an end.
United TTFA then decided to challenge this FIFA decision by taking the dispute to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) in Switzerland. Winning such a case would have placed the already shaky relationship between FIFA and TTFA into the matrimonial category of irrevocable differences. Any assistance from FIFA in managing TTFA's debts would have fallen on deaf ears. But at least we could see that justice prevailed.
But this latest decision by United TTFA and its legal team is completely incomprehensible.
Firstly, T&T courts have no jurisdiction over FIFA. Secondly, FIFA statutes forbid member associations to address matters through local courts and members agree to address all such matters to CAS. The penalty for non-compliance with these rules is a suspension.
So what is United TTFA's endgame? If they win in Port-of-Spain and retake their positions in TTFA, what have they achieved? T&T football will be an outcast. United TTFA will be in charge of an empty office, with no income, no staff and a $50 million debt.
My question is: who gave United TTFA the mandate to turn T&T into a football pariah? Did the 49 TTFA board members vote for this? Were they even consulted? Did United TTFA discuss their intentions with the Sports Minister Shamfa Cudjoe?
I have seen United TTFA members and their supporters talk about the fight for justice. Some have even dared to liken their dispute to those of Uriah Butler, Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks. They talk of fighting the corruption of colonialist bullies.
But in reality, United TTFA has crossed the moral threshold of the fight for justice.
Can it be justice for a handful of middle-aged administrators to take away the opportunities and dreams of talented young footballers unable to play international football for an undetermined number of years? Can it be democratic for these few to take a unilateral decision that will affect all 49 board members without a vote?
I believe in fighting for justice. I was instrumental in the Soca Warriors fight against Jack Warner in the World Cup bonus dispute. At the time it was unthinkable that a bunch of footballers could win against the FIFA vice-president. The players knew that their fight would result in blacklisting from the national team but it was their personal choice just as it would be their personal penalty. Their battle never threatened T&T football.
Where were the members of United TTFA in that fight for justice? Some of them were working with Warner so maybe justice wasn't so important then.
If United TTFA feels justified to take on FIFA in a T&T court, I say they should do it but they should do it as individuals. Let them win their victory and attain the moral high ground but don't bring down T&T football in the process.
Kevin Harrison
Operations Director
Central FC
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Regional Associations: Ban Wallace and friends, not TTFA
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
There is now a collective call by representatives of four out of the six regional associations - Southern FA (SFA), Eastern FA (EFA), Central FA (CFA) and the Eastern Counties Football Union - for the ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive to face the penalty for the country if it is to be banned for violation of the FIFA Statutes.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports on Wednesday, Shymdeo Gosine, president of CFA together with EFA president Kieron Edwards, Terrance Quashie of the Eastern Counties, and Richard Quan Chan, president of the SFA have championed the call for the United TTFA team to be banned and not the TTFA.
However, Harvey Jack, who spoke on behalf of the Tobago Football Association (TFA), despite the fact that the Association don't have an existing executive, said while he does not support a decision for the country to be banned, he is supporting the principled stand being taken by Wallace and his team.
Fed up that they would not be given a fair trial by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to fight against, what they consider to be, an unfair decision by football's supreme body - FIFA - to replace their democratically elected executive with a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee on March 17, the United TTFA team of former president William Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, on Monday agreed to take its battle to the High Court in Port-of-Spain, which was a direct violation of the TTFA constitution and FIFA Statutes, which positions T&T to be banned.
However, the members of the respective regional association said the decision by Wallace and company was not a representation of the football fraternity, or either the Board of Directors, who are the decision-making team in local football.
Quan Chan, Quashie, Edwards and Gosine all said their associations were never consulted before the decision was made, and therefore, they do not support it.
Gosine, the CFA boss said the rule states clearly that automatic suspension will be handed down to the Member Association that carries FIFA to the local court.
“Then why do we have people, who claim to care about football, who would make such a decision and get our country banned. Tell me who is advising them, tell me where is the thinking?”
He calls on the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), CONCACAF and whichever other entity that could help them convince FIFA, that if it is considering banning T&T, then it (FIFA) should ban the members individually instead.
“Keep them out of T&T football because they are not thinking about the effect it would have on the country and footballers as a whole. For me, they are all selfish,” Gosine said. “We need to separate these people from football. We have gone past this fight against FIFA for a long time because we know that FIFA can help us, so we must support the Normalisation Committee.”
Edwards, the EFA boss said his association is set to have an emergency meeting to discuss the decision to go to the high court and whether the United TTFA had also violated its own constitution, apart from the FIFA statutes.
Article 67 of the TTFA constitution states: “In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Statutes, any appeal against a final and binding decision passed by FIFA, CONCACAF or the Leagues, shall be heard by the CAS unless another arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction in accordance with Art. 69. CAS shall not, however, hear appeals on violations of the Laws of the Game and suspensions of up four matches or up to three months (except for doping decisions). 2 TTFA shall ensure its full compliance and that of all those subject to its jurisdiction with any final decision passed by a FIFA body, by a CONCACAF body, by the Arbitration Tribunal recognised by TTFA or the CAS.”
Edwards said all this will be discussed as well as the fact that no communication, advice or consultation was made with his association and they, therefore, view the decision to go to the high court as a reckless one. Like Gosine, he said he supports the call for individual sanctions on the members who decided to go to the high court and not on the country.
Should T&T be banned by FIFA, there will be no future for the young players trying to compete at the CFU, CONCACAF, Women's tournaments, as well as the CONCACAF Gold Cup, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and International Club competitions.
Meanwhile, both Quan Chan and Quashie made it clear they will not support any decision that will result in T&T football being suspended. Both said since the decision was made by the few members, then they should face the penalty, as their decision was not made with the involvement of the SFA or Eastern Counties.
Quashie said he believes Wallace was negatively influenced. The country faces a possible ban by FIFA, similar to several other countries that have been suspended by the world governing body including Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Cameroon, among others.
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This ban talk is stirring up unmerited hysteria and its promulgators are overlooking the factor that neither automatically recommends or supports a ban. I will leave that for another day but I am appreciating the various unmaskings for now.
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When justification is not enough
T&T Guardian
Dear Editor,
In the current worrying dispute between the elected body of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), better known as United TTFA, and FIFA, a new twist threatens to plunge our football into unfathomable depths.
While the sudden firing of the democratically elected board deserved some degree of outrage, many people within football could accept this decision as a means to an end.
United TTFA then decided to challenge this FIFA decision by taking the dispute to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) in Switzerland. Winning such a case would have placed the already shaky relationship between FIFA and TTFA into the matrimonial category of irrevocable differences. Any assistance from FIFA in managing TTFA's debts would have fallen on deaf ears. But at least we could see that justice prevailed.
But this latest decision by United TTFA and its legal team is completely incomprehensible.
Firstly, T&T courts have no jurisdiction over FIFA. Secondly, FIFA statutes forbid member associations to address matters through local courts and members agree to address all such matters to CAS. The penalty for non-compliance with these rules is a suspension.
So what is United TTFA's endgame? If they win in Port-of-Spain and retake their positions in TTFA, what have they achieved? T&T football will be an outcast. United TTFA will be in charge of an empty office, with no income, no staff and a $50 million debt.
My question is: who gave United TTFA the mandate to turn T&T into a football pariah? Did the 49 TTFA board members vote for this? Were they even consulted? Did United TTFA discuss their intentions with the Sports Minister Shamfa Cudjoe?
I have seen United TTFA members and their supporters talk about the fight for justice. Some have even dared to liken their dispute to those of Uriah Butler, Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks. They talk of fighting the corruption of colonialist bullies.
But in reality, United TTFA has crossed the moral threshold of the fight for justice.
Can it be justice for a handful of middle-aged administrators to take away the opportunities and dreams of talented young footballers unable to play international football for an undetermined number of years? Can it be democratic for these few to take a unilateral decision that will affect all 49 board members without a vote?
I believe in fighting for justice. I was instrumental in the Soca Warriors fight against Jack Warner in the World Cup bonus dispute. At the time it was unthinkable that a bunch of footballers could win against the FIFA vice-president. The players knew that their fight would result in blacklisting from the national team but it was their personal choice just as it would be their personal penalty. Their battle never threatened T&T football.
Where were the members of United TTFA in that fight for justice? Some of them were working with Warner so maybe justice wasn't so important then.
If United TTFA feels justified to take on FIFA in a T&T court, I say they should do it but they should do it as individuals. Let them win their victory and attain the moral high ground but don't bring down T&T football in the process.
Kevin Harrison
Operations Director
Central FC
Kevin:
1. Although the decision-making of the complaining party confounds you, that confoundment does not render it "completely incomprehensible" to other observers.
2. Preliminary discussion with the MoS is an incredulous proposition for reasons you should know, or appreciate, instinctively, having been affiliated with the MoS and from your indicated reading of FIFA prerogatives.
3. I wish you had not waded into South African waters with definition setting on permissible boundaries of moral authority. What occurred in South Africa was an unconditional and unbounded expression of moral imperative and the collective decision-making of elders ("middle aged administrators", if you will) did lead to sacrificing opportunities of the promising generation, but none of that sacrifice was permanent or permanently injurious.
I prefer to allude to that broadly out of respect for the many days of school missed in the townships and the blood shed on those principles of moral acuity.
Make your point but don't assert that morality is vacated because there are consequences to asserting a moral imperative.
4. You acknowledge a moral high ground, and you assert a history of waging a prior battle that was grounded on a justice imperative and consequences, yet you are not struggling with the parallels here? It seems that you are preoccupied by the size of the dog in the yard and its wagging tail. Thing is, that may be an appropriate standard to apply in a school yard but not the appropriate standard to be applied on the national or international stage.
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Kerry Baptiste: Players will suffer in TTFA battle
By Jelani Beckles and Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)
AN African proverb warns that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Former T&T footballer Kerry Baptiste shares a similar sentiment as he fears local-based players would bear the brunt of the damage in the ongoing battle between the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and the FIFA normalisation committee.
Baptiste credits the embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his executive for fighting FIFA on their decision to appoint a normalisation committee to run local football, but believes it would be an uphill battle for the former TTFA executive.
“Anybody will put up a fight for that but like I said, this is FIFA…this is not just some local body you putting up a fight against, this is FIFA,” Baptiste said.
On March 17, FIFA removed the freshly-appointed TTFA executive and appointed a normalisation committee led by Robert Hadad. The main job given to the normalisation committee is to eliminate the TTFA's huge debts, which is said to be $50 million.
Wallace inherited most of the debts as he was only elected president in November 2019. The former Secondary Schools Football League boss decided to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but on Monday switched strategy, instead taking their fight to the T&T High Court.
Baptiste hopes a situation does not arise where FIFA prevents T&T from playing in tournaments because of the current battle for power.
“I really hope it does not reach that level where FIFA wants to ban T&T from participating in tournaments from the youngest age groups to the senior level…If FIFA is here to improve and upgrade, all well and good because at the end of the day we cannot think about us."
Baptiste continued, "We cannot be selfish in this situation here…it will affect a lot of players, not a manager, not a coach, not a physio, not a trainer, the players are going to feel it…the players well-being we have to focus on.”
Baptiste said Wallace was put in a difficult position when he came into office. “Unfortunately Wallace was given the opportunity to try his best in the position that he got to try and help local football, but at the end of the day there were so many things before Mr Wallace (came into office), so no disrespect to him.”
The former national player is counting on FIFA to fix T&T football. “Let’s hope at the end of the day that a lot of things get resolved peacefully and they bring some of kind of stability and tranquillity to football in the country. A lot of people depend on football locally. There are a lot of things that need to be resolved, so many things were upside down back in the days and today we fighting the same battle.”
TTFA board member and chairman of the technical committee Keith Look Loy, on Tuesday, said the move by the former TTFA executive to take their case from CAS to the High Court was not a last resort in their battle against FIFA.
"FIFA regulations permit one to appeal to CAS, so we followed the rules," Look Loy said. "Then CAS orders us to pay the entire legal costs, although the said regulations require FIFA to pay half. So we protested and forced CAS to ask FIFA to pay their half. FIFA refused so we now resort to the local High Court, because of FIFA's behaviour."
According to Look Loy, "(FIFA) have no authority to remove an elected executive."
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fight, Fight,Fight!!!!!! William Wallace!!!!!!!!
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Kerry Baptiste: Players will suffer in TTFA battle
By Jelani Beckles and Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)
AN African proverb warns that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Former T&T footballer Kerry Baptiste shares a similar sentiment as he fears local-based players would bear the brunt of the damage in the ongoing battle between the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and the FIFA normalisation committee.
Baptiste credits the embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his executive for fighting FIFA on their decision to appoint a normalisation committee to run local football, but believes it would be an uphill battle for the former TTFA executive.
“Anybody will put up a fight for that but like I said, this is FIFA…this is not just some local body you putting up a fight against, this is FIFA,” Baptiste said.
On March 17, FIFA removed the freshly-appointed TTFA executive and appointed a normalisation committee led by Robert Hadad. The main job given to the normalisation committee is to eliminate the TTFA's huge debts, which is said to be $50 million.
Wallace inherited most of the debts as he was only elected president in November 2019. The former Secondary Schools Football League boss decided to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but on Monday switched strategy, instead taking their fight to the T&T High Court.
Baptiste hopes a situation does not arise where FIFA prevents T&T from playing in tournaments because of the current battle for power.
“I really hope it does not reach that level where FIFA wants to ban T&T from participating in tournaments from the youngest age groups to the senior level…If FIFA is here to improve and upgrade, all well and good because at the end of the day we cannot think about us."
Baptiste continued, "We cannot be selfish in this situation here…it will affect a lot of players, not a manager, not a coach, not a physio, not a trainer, the players are going to feel it…the players well-being we have to focus on.”
Baptiste said Wallace was put in a difficult position when he came into office. “Unfortunately Wallace was given the opportunity to try his best in the position that he got to try and help local football, but at the end of the day there were so many things before Mr Wallace (came into office), so no disrespect to him.”
The former national player is counting on FIFA to fix T&T football. “Let’s hope at the end of the day that a lot of things get resolved peacefully and they bring some of kind of stability and tranquillity to football in the country. A lot of people depend on football locally. There are a lot of things that need to be resolved, so many things were upside down back in the days and today we fighting the same battle.”
TTFA board member and chairman of the technical committee Keith Look Loy, on Tuesday, said the move by the former TTFA executive to take their case from CAS to the High Court was not a last resort in their battle against FIFA.
"FIFA regulations permit one to appeal to CAS, so we followed the rules," Look Loy said. "Then CAS orders us to pay the entire legal costs, although the said regulations require FIFA to pay half. So we protested and forced CAS to ask FIFA to pay their half. FIFA refused so we now resort to the local High Court, because of FIFA's behaviour."
According to Look Loy, "(FIFA) have no authority to remove an elected executive."
what contracts is Kerry talking about, and what contracts are these local bums getting anyway, to play in Thailand and honduras? with our fifa ranking our players can’t even earn contracts in the conference league in england, let alone a 4th tier league in the eastern block.
A bring on the ban already, that and the sanctions on trinidad for trading fuel to venezuela, and while we at it bring down covid on the country as well. fok it let’s go for broke, double or nothing.
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fight, Fight,Fight!!!!!! William Wallace!!!!!!!!
thats what I say bring on the ban. in fact ban us indefinitely 10 years would be nice. that would encourage us to build a better more patronized league. in that way my heart will heal from a total ban with all the disappointments in the coming years from the ridiculous beatings we would have received from concacaf top 6. So burn down the house wallace, if you can’t live there then no one will.
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Wallace: No change without consequences
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
“There could be no change without consequences. Some people want to support our stance but are unwilling to accept the consequences,” said William Wallace, former president of the ousted T&T Football Association, who is leading a daring battle against the world governing body for football- FIFA for the right to be the managers of local football told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday.
The team of Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick was replaced by a Normalisation Committee appointed by the FIFA because the football association faced a real risk of insolvency.
T&T football is now being managed by a normalization committee comprises of businessman Robert Hadad, the chairman, alongside retired banker Nigel Romano and Attorney Judy Daniel after Wallace and his executive team was removed from office on March 17 by FIFA according to article 8.2 of the FIFA statutes.
Wallace who on Monday led his team to take their battle with the FIFA to the High Court in Port-of-Spain, took a swipe at their detractors, saying the notion of taking a stand without risk is contradictory. “They are basing this on what might happen, assuming that we will be banned for our stance. We are taking a calculated risk, taking into consideration what is happening with FIFA president Gianni Infantino right now internationally, and we are getting the support of the international media but our local media has done otherwise,” Wallace said.
According to Wallace: “Right now our football needs to reset. For the past four years, our football had been going backwards, yet no one stood up and said anything but us (the United TTFA). Now they are telling me about where we are going wrong. This is not a decision that was made just so, we considered several factors before we arrived at this. The big mighty FIFA was brought to its knees before, and while I am not saying that is what I intend to do, we must take a stance against injustice.”
Meanwhile, Stern John, an assistant coach of the country's under-20 football team, is calling for Wallace and his team to do the right thing.
“This is taking TT football back to the stone age and I cannot support that. At the end of the day, football must be the winner. It must not be destroyed at the expense of someone proving a personal point,” John told Guardian Media Sports yesterday afternoon. He believes with the stance being taken that several young TT footballers will suffer.
“I have a son who wants to represent this country, but if we are banned, he may never get the chance, just as many other young players. I think Wallace has gotten it wrong here,” John, the country's all-time top goalscorer explained.
Wallace's team decided to take the FIFA to the local court is a blatant violation of the FIFA Statutes for Member Associations, an action that leads to a ban. However, it is uncertain which ban FIFA could hand down, as one official said “The country, on the whole, could be banned, or there could be a ban on individuals. This decision will be made at the FIFA Congress and that is if the FIFA decides to ban us for the stand we took.”
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Wallace: No change without consequences
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
“There could be no change without consequences. Some people want to support our stance but are unwilling to accept the consequences,” said William Wallace, former president of the ousted T&T Football Association, who is leading a daring battle against the world governing body for football- FIFA for the right to be the managers of local football told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday.
The team of Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick was replaced by a Normalisation Committee appointed by the FIFA because the football association faced a real risk of insolvency.
T&T football is now being managed by a normalization committee comprises of businessman Robert Hadad, the chairman, alongside retired banker Nigel Romano and Attorney Judy Daniel after Wallace and his executive team was removed from office on March 17 by FIFA according to article 8.2 of the FIFA statutes.
Wallace who on Monday led his team to take their battle with the FIFA to the High Court in Port-of-Spain, took a swipe at their detractors, saying the notion of taking a stand without risk is contradictory. “They are basing this on what might happen, assuming that we will be banned for our stance. We are taking a calculated risk, taking into consideration what is happening with FIFA president Gianni Infantino right now internationally, and we are getting the support of the international media but our local media has done otherwise,” Wallace said.
According to Wallace: “Right now our football needs to reset. For the past four years, our football had been going backwards, yet no one stood up and said anything but us (the United TTFA). Now they are telling me about where we are going wrong. This is not a decision that was made just so, we considered several factors before we arrived at this. The big mighty FIFA was brought to its knees before, and while I am not saying that is what I intend to do, we must take a stance against injustice.”
Meanwhile, Stern John, an assistant coach of the country's under-20 football team, is calling for Wallace and his team to do the right thing.
“This is taking TT football back to the stone age and I cannot support that. At the end of the day, football must be the winner. It must not be destroyed at the expense of someone proving a personal point,” John told Guardian Media Sports yesterday afternoon. He believes with the stance being taken that several young TT footballers will suffer.
“I have a son who wants to represent this country, but if we are banned, he may never get the chance, just as many other young players. I think Wallace has gotten it wrong here,” John, the country's all-time top goalscorer explained.
Wallace's team decided to take the FIFA to the local court is a blatant violation of the FIFA Statutes for Member Associations, an action that leads to a ban. However, it is uncertain which ban FIFA could hand down, as one official said “The country, on the whole, could be banned, or there could be a ban on individuals. This decision will be made at the FIFA Congress and that is if the FIFA decides to ban us for the stand we took.”
to hell with you and your son mr john. you sat there for three years with Dennis the menace while he experimented with our national team and obliterating football, but you wasn’t concerned then about your son’s future weren’t you? neither were you concerned when yourself and Dennis broke ranks with the rest of the team in their pursuit of justice from jack Warner’s million dollar heist after the World Cup.
as it stands I would rather a ban on TT football than to see a return of DJW or another jackass like him, so please fifa do us all a favor and ban football for 100 yrs, who cares, I’m actually tired of seeing us struggle against the Central Americans anyway, but I have a strong suspicion that they would only ban wallace and look loy so that they could maintain their puppet vote, and in that case I will never support TT football ever again, the same way I would never support liverpool or Sunderland ever again.
It would be real sweet if Wallace and company bring down this present fifa government, in like manner how chuck blazer brought down jack warner.
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It should be increasingly clear why slavery persisted as a century long venture.
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It should be increasingly clear why slavery persisted as a century long venture.
you're telling? this thing is like a never ending nightmare we take five steps forward and a dozen backwards. never thought it would be fifa and another dictatorial local boy to do it to us again, just when you thought we got jack and sepp off our backs for good, they were replaced by david and gianni. what a shame.
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It should be increasingly clear why slavery persisted as a century long venture.
you're telling? this thing is like a never ending nightmare we take five steps forward and a dozen backwards. never thought it would be fifa and another dictatorial local boy to do it to us again, just when you thought we got jack and sepp off our backs for good, they were replaced by david and gianni. what a shame.
never ending saga
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Heard last night that the United ttfa now wants to negotiate with fifa now, what the pumpernickel is wrong with wallace? He’s all over the place.
one day he’s taking his case the to CAS then he’s reconsidering the cost, then he’s taking them to CAS again, then he’s considering the integrity of CAS, then he’s taking them to the high court and now again he wants to bargain with fifa when fifa has been resolute in their intentions and has not wavered in their commitment.
I’m not going to lie, I am beginning to sense that this man really don’t have a plan and is behaving like he don’t know what he’s doing, why is he dealing with things so viki vie? I’m also beginning to lose confidence in his leadership in regards to his wavering back and forth. come on wallace get it together, it’s either yuh in or out but stop showing your hand please.
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These are very Abnormal times in our football governance-
Why is it so challenging to find competent leaderspih for the TTFA? Is there a job description and criteria for this?
Or does everyone who aspire for this position have visions of getting rich quickly by mismanaging funds and building vacuoles legacies ?
Land yuh would think that they all so duncee like they graduate from the school of you ent see yet.
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These are very Abnormal times in our football governance-
Why is it so challenging to find competent leaderspih for the TTFA? Is there a job description and criteria for this?
Or does everyone who aspire for this position have visions of getting rich quickly by mismanaging funds and building vacuoles legacies ?
Land yuh would think that they all so duncee like they graduate from the school of you ent see yet.
you must keep in mind that federation presidents are elected not selected and you don’t need special qualifications according to fifa’s constitution. btw mate you don’t need to be super educated or overly qualified to be a prime minister or even the president of the United States, just look at Donald trump, I’d be extremely surprised if he had an associate’s degree from a community college.
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FIFA's impending ban for Trinidad is near. For the overall good of our program, I believe that William Wallace should begin to negotiate with FIFA. We need a win-win situation for the future of football in Trinidad. Sometimes falling on the sword for the greater good is the best strategic option. Wallace et al can try for re-election after normalization. A FIFA ban will hurt an already compromised program and put us behind 20 years. Very sad to say but this is reality!
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Raj. Show your Fatima colours nah man.
Nitendo Vinces!
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FIFA's impending ban for Trinidad is near. For the overall good of our program, I believe that William Wallace should begin to negotiate with FIFA. We need a win-win situation for the future of football in Trinidad. Sometimes falling on the sword for the greater good is the best strategic option. Wallace et al can try for re-election after normalization. A FIFA ban will hurt an already compromised program and put us behind 20 years. Very sad to say but this is reality!
id rather see us banned than to continue along these lines of malignant mismanagement. after all what future do we have in football? We are years behind in concacaf and left in the dust and would need a miracle to play catch up.
we don’t have a good professional league, we don’t have a proper youth system, we don’t have infrastructural development neither do we have a sustainable revenue steam to keep football afloat, in fact we depend on the government to fund the national teams as well as the pro league, so what hurt are you talking about? we’ve already hit rock bottom and the only way to go now is up. nothing can hurt football more than it already is DJW and Ollie camps has sealed our fate for years to come.
MY gripe with Wallace is that he seems to be I’ll advised with no visible means of support and fifa can sense that. his latest call for negotiations will never happen IMO, fifa will not reply to his call because they want him to act irrationally by going to the high court so they can ban the executive (wallace, look loy, phillip and warrick) and that would be an even better scenario for fifa because WW would now be out of the way for good.
what im hoping he does is wait it out for the two years and allow FIFA to hang themselves, let them spend their money while he and his team try to build relationships with the clubs, zones and potential sponsors then fight for the elections again, but I swear they would ban him WW and leave the ttfa for another puppet cronie to govern and mind you, I don’t care if they banned the ttfa in the least, but I do see it as foolishness if WW and company went and got themselves banned and nothing came of their plight, in fact it would be an utterly nonsensical move on their part.
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Raj. Show your Fatima colours nah man.
Nitendo Vinces!
FF I know your heart is in the right place, but can you honestly tell me that these guys inspire any confidence in you? one day they’re going to CAS, then the next day they are reconsidering their next move, then the next day is back to CAS, then the next day they change their song again, now they are off to the negotiation table to haggle with an organization who clearly wants them out the way. so how can I stand by them at all.
it’s aboundantly clear what will happen here, fifa will not meet them on any favorable terms because that’s not their plan, they will ignore them so that they would make irrational moves so that they could place a heavy ban on them, not the ttfa itself but the executive, which would put FIFA in an e en better position, now does that make sense to you?
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Chance to blow the whistle on FIFA issue
T&T Express
I refer to my letter to the editor (Express, May 15) on the situation of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and their spat with FIFA, where I commented on the futility of TTFA’s stance and sought to put the right context to the comments made by Colin Murray (on the moral authority of FIFA) and the non-relevance this has to the particulars of this TTFA vs FIFA issue.
I now see the matter has gone to the High Court. This move simplifies the process of resolution and will go far to preventing any serious fallout between Trinidad and Tobago and FIFA over the short or medium term.
Allowing the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago to address the matter has made the process more straightforward and will create no obstacle for the local court to end this charade in a manner that preserves the integrity and dignity of our nation.
The only parties impacted will be the current TTFA administrators.
Dave Wallace can still be offered kudos for his valiant stance and we can then close the chapter on this awkward misadventure.
The local court gets a chance to quell the imperiousness of the local body through a purely local process, thus leaving FIFA and its general relationship with Trinidad and Tobago unscathed.
The basis of the action is already circumscribed. TTFA has little latitude to usurp the rules of the international body, especially when FIFA is acting within its own self- regulating standards and procedures.
FIFA is still within its own jurisdiction to act. The issue of a civil action for committing a wrong within the jurisdiction of T&T will logically require a different set of offences on the part of FIFA.
Such offences are not likely to be found given the nature of the issue. FIFA has the authority of its bye-laws both behind it and on its side.
I trust we will soon see the end of this issue and the ushering in of a transformation that can see football administration in T&T progress to a higher level of accountability and integrity.
Notwithstanding all this, the basic culture of corruption that still pervades this society needs to be vigilantly guarded against and not allowed to seep into what has been otherwise changed for the better.
John Thompson
St James
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Chance to blow the whistle on FIFA issue
T&T Express
I refer to my letter to the editor (Express, May 15) on the situation of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and their spat with FIFA, where I commented on the futility of TTFA’s stance and sought to put the right context to the comments made by Colin Murray (on the moral authority of FIFA) and the non-relevance this has to the particulars of this TTFA vs FIFA issue.
I now see the matter has gone to the High Court. This move simplifies the process of resolution and will go far to preventing any serious fallout between Trinidad and Tobago and FIFA over the short or medium term.
Allowing the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago to address the matter has made the process more straightforward and will create no obstacle for the local court to end this charade in a manner that preserves the integrity and dignity of our nation.
The only parties impacted will be the current TTFA administrators.
Dave Wallace can still be offered kudos for his valiant stance and we can then close the chapter on this awkward misadventure.
The local court gets a chance to quell the imperiousness of the local body through a purely local process, thus leaving FIFA and its general relationship with Trinidad and Tobago unscathed.
The basis of the action is already circumscribed. TTFA has little latitude to usurp the rules of the international body, especially when FIFA is acting within its own self- regulating standards and procedures.
FIFA is still within its own jurisdiction to act. The issue of a civil action for committing a wrong within the jurisdiction of T&T will logically require a different set of offences on the part of FIFA.
Such offences are not likely to be found given the nature of the issue. FIFA has the authority of its bye-laws both behind it and on its side.
I trust we will soon see the end of this issue and the ushering in of a transformation that can see football administration in T&T progress to a higher level of accountability and integrity.
Notwithstanding all this, the basic culture of corruption that still pervades this society needs to be vigilantly guarded against and not allowed to seep into what has been otherwise changed for the better.
John Thompson
St James
Who the hell is dave wallace? and I’m trying to wrap my Amin d around his post, what is he saying actually, that once we go to the high court then fifa automatically caves to our demands, is that what he’s saying? because if that’s the case then fifa could site interference and ban the federation or the executive members or both. I’m a bit confused as to what he’s saying.
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Why not TT asks Look Loy.
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).
KEITH LOOK Loy, technical committee chairman of the TT Football Association (TTFA) has described as cynical and hypocritical FIFA's agreement to “bail out” the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) of its US$10 million debt.
According to Zimbabwean media, the world governing body of football approved a “package” for ZIFA that is expected to be released in June under the FIFA Forward Programme.
This is in addition to the US$1 million grant FIFA issues to the association annually.
The Herald newspaper in Zimbabwe said, “FIFA have approved two of the eight project applications, which ZIFA tendered, under the FIFA Forward Programme.
“The other project which, was approved and will receive funding from Zurich, is the association’s restructuring.”
The Herald report said the project aims to “professionalise” the association, and that auditors are currently verifying figures with organisations and individuals owed by ZIFA.
Look Loy finds this questionable since FIFA removed the former TTFA executive in March and appointed a normalisation committee owing to “low financial management methods” and “a massive debt.”
The TTFA currently has a debt of approximately $50 million — most of which was accumulated during the tenure of its former president David John-Williams.
Look Loy is now asking why the same privilege is not being extended to TT.
Speaking with Newsday on Saturday evening, he said, “The debt situation is the same. Why is Wallace being punished for someone else's debt while in Zimbabwe their debt is being cleared?
“It is increasingly clear that FIFA's action in the case of TTFA is arbitrary and punitive. It is increasingly clear that, as United TTFA has said, that FIFA is seeking to impose its so-called normalisation committee, not to clear Association debt but to shroud its origin and FIFA's own complicity in (the committee's) creation.”
Represented by attorney Dr Emir Crowne, embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his team appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
But, after indicating that they felt CAS was being unfair, they recently appealed to TT’s High Court.
Look Loy said the Government and the TT Olympic Committee should call on FIFA to “explain its transparently unequal treatment of the Wallace administration in light of this revelation.”
Several staff members have not been able to receive payments for months as neither Wallace nor Hadad – chairman of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee – have access to the TTFA’s bank accounts.
For Hadad, it is because of the TTFA constitution and for Wallace, it is because of his removal by FIFA.
In addition to Hadad, the committee consists of deputy chairperson Judy Daniel and committee member Nigel Romano.
FIFA had told Newsday, by e-mail, the members were chosen through a “series of interviews” with FIFA and Concacaf representatives.
It said two more members will be soon appointed.
When asked if the members were being paid, FIFA never responded.
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Silent FIFA..TTFA lawyer suggests power-sharing as possibility
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
FIFA has not responded.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has not yet responded to notice sent on Wednesday, May 19, of a case brought against the international football governing body by ousted executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
“All they have to indicate is that we (FIFA) will file an appearance, and these are our attorneys at law,” stated advocate attorney Dr. Emir Crowne, in an interview on the Jamaica-based Sportsmax Zone programme on Friday.
Barrister Matthew Gayle and Crowne, are acting on behalf of “United TTFA,” comprising embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip. The former executive is fighting its replacement by a FIFA-appointed normalisation committee headed by local businessman Robert Hadad. The New City Chambers legal team served FIFA notice of it’s intention to take it to the Trinidad and Tobago High Court. United TTFA gave the international body eight days to respond.
Apart from an automated response, FIFA has not acknowledged the correspondence.
“If they don’t do that, the case will proceed in divorce (without FIFA),” stated Crowne. “It would be very odd if they didn’t do that.”
Crowne also theorised that apart from a potentially nasty court battle, mediation is a possible solution for both parties.
“Quite frankly I haven’t floated the idea of a mediated course with members of the TTFA,” the attorney said, “but there are some outcomes that I am thinking about...and this is only quite general.”
With such a scenario, Crowne said there may be a power-sharing option between “United TTFA” and FIFA.
“That may involve a combination of the normalisation committee and the appointed executive,”Crowne said, “I don’t know.”
“But there may be a path forward, and at the end of the day, relationships are preserved and Trinidad and Tobago football comes out better, as opposed to those people on the sidelines who are saying they think that because you’re standing up for your rights, Trinidad and Tobago football with inevitably be destroyed.”
Crowne argued:“It can’t be right that FIFA could act this way and when a Federation stands up to them, all of the football pundits say, well it’s FIFA, let them do what they want. That’s can’t to be right.”
Even if United TTFA is victorious in the Port of Spain High Court, how does it reconcile with a world body it has taken legal action against and will still depend on for funding? Crowne expected FIFA to be mature regardless of the outcome of the local court case.
“If FIFA is anything like it purports to be, an organisationally complex entity, it will abide by whatever the decision is in the end.
“I suspect that FIFA has seen enough of these battles. It is not like they are going to hold it over their (TTFA) heads and will respect whatever judgement arises from it.
“If we get down that path,” Crowne stated.
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pull stones, in my reading, there isn't vacillation. It must be appreciated that the matter is a fluid matter. There is no direct line. As such, approaches will change. That's par for the course.
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pull stones, in my reading, there isn't vacillation. It must be appreciated that the matter is a fluid matter. There is no direct line. As such, approaches will change. That's part for the course.
no pun intended big brother but some of those words you’re using are a little to sophisticated and I’m not familiar, so please give me in layman’s terms what you’re actually saying, as this ttfa and FIFA thing is driving me to the limit, I really don’t know how much of this nonsense I could take.
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FIFA in the dock
By Philippe Auclair (josimarfootball.com)
New information suggests that FIFA decided to “normalise” the newly elected board at the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association after just two months. If this indeed turns out to be the case, Gianni Infantino could face real trouble.
In other words, this would be proof that FIFA’s decision to ‘normalise’ the TTFA had been taken before the governing body had any elements at its disposal to evaluate the performance of the new administration, and been able to establish its incompetence or worse. To the TTFA’s administration, this would amount to a confirmation that this decision had been politically motivated, both as a punishment for the usurpers of the previous regime and as a means to regain control over a turbulent FA which had made it clear from the word ‘go’ that it intended to investigate how a $2.5m FIFA grant had been – in its eyes – dilapidated, with FIFA turning a blind eye to the misuse of its money. It would make FIFA’s position untenable.
High Court
The email from Trinidadian barrister Matthew Gayle dropped in Alexandre Gros’s and Sofia Malizia’s inboxes mid-afternoon on 19 May. They were advised, as was FIFA’s litigation service, that an order had been served on them in the case that the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (TTFA) had opened against the governing body at the T&T High Court of Justice.
“Kindly note that the claimant is making a claim against you in the court”, they read.” If you do nothing judgment may be entered against you (in bold type in the original text). That means that the claimant will be entitled to take steps to enforce payment from you of any money he is claiming and you will have no right to be heard except as to the amount of any costs claimed or as to the way in which you can pay the judgment unless you apply to set judgment aside“.
It’s fair to say that Alexandre Gros, the senior governance services manager of FIFA’s Member Associations Committee, and Sofia Malizia, who was recently promoted manager of the same FIFA department, are not used to receiving such messages, be that in terms of tone or content.
Their surprise must have been all the greater since it seemed that FIFA’s ‘normalisation’ of the T&T Football Association would, in the end, not be challenged by the ousted administration at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)*. It was reasonable to think that an end had been brought to the matter, bar for the anger of many in the Caribbean nation. But no. The ‘normalised’ were fighting against their ‘normalisation’, and aimed to declare FIFA’s decision ‘null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect’ and to place an injunction against FIFA which would – in theory – prevent it from ‘interfering in the day-to-day management [of the TTFA]’.
The TTFA administration had initially intended to bring its case to the Lausanne-based court, but, after doing its sums, had realised that it could not raise the necessary funds to do so, regardless of the validity of its claim that FIFA had acted unlawfully by appointing a normalisation committee headed by a successful local businessman named Robert Hadad, better known until then for being the archipelago’s number one importer of ice-cream than for his role in football governance, something which Mr Hadad, who describes himself as an “avid fan of football” is quite happy to accept.
Getting CAS to rule on an issue does not come cheap, especially when the defendant is FIFA, one of the Court’s main financial backers (to the tune of CHF 1.5m per annum), and when football accounts for about 65% of all cases heard by the tribunal. The TTFA board, which had no longer access to and control over its own accounts at the First Citizen Bank since the normalisation process had been initiated, had asked for a single arbitrator to be put in charge of the dossier; FIFA had insisted on three, as is the defendant’s prerogative, thereby tripling the cost of the proceedings.
What’s more, FIFA had the statutory right to refuse to pay its own share of the expenses incurred in the instruction of the case. On 11 May, Miguel Liétard Fernandéz-Palacios, FIFA’s director of litigation, informed CAS that it would “not pay its share of advance of costs in this specific procedure”. This meant that the TTFA found itself faced with a bill for CHF 40,000, an absolute fortune for the cash-strapped organisation, and had to throw in the towel. CAS no longer was key to a positive resolution for the TTFA. FIFA had priced them out of litigation…or so it seemed.
Home Advantage
The TTFA administration still had a card to play, not in Switzerland, but at home this time. After all, they had always been a ‘body corporate incorporated in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’, and had the right to turn to the country’s highest jurisdiction, Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court of Justice. This is exactly what they did. A 155-page ‘Statement of Case’, which Josimar has seen, was filed by the TTFA President William Wallace on 18 May at T&T’s Supreme Court of Judicature.
Together with documents which aim to substantiate the legality of the case, this ‘Statement’ was also a potted history of how and why the present situation had arisen, and contained a detailed timeline of what had happened since 24 November 2019, when ‘Big’ William Wallace defeated David John-Williams by 26 votes to 20 in the final round of the TTFA presidential elections.
That result certainly wasn’t what Gianni Infantino had hoped for: six days before the vote, he’d travelled to T&T and endorsed his ‘team-mate’ John-Williams at the grand opening of the ‘Home of Football’, a FIFA-financed complex which had cost millions (a large part of which had been disbursed in cash and was virtually untraceable) and was in fact unfinished and unusable in its present state.
The ‘Home of Football’ was later turned into a ‘step down facility’ for the care of COVID-19 sufferers, but only after a huge effort from the authorities and a number of local companies had made it safe to use. As is clear from an address to the nation made by T&T’s Minister of Social Security Stuart Young (https://www.facebook.com/CNC3Television/videos/558234098163087/) on 22 April, the complex which the FIFA president had inaugurated in great fanfare in November 2019 had been lacking basic equipment and amenities such as flooring, fire extinguishers, internet access and even running water; as well as light bulbs, which were donated by Robert Hadad, the head of the Normalisation Committee. Where had all the USD$ 2.5m paid out by FIFA gone?
Whoever had been responsible for the mess the TTFA found itself in, the task facing the new board of directors was a huge one. According to the statement filed by Wallace at the High Court, the TTFA’s debts at the time of the presidential election stood at ‘circa TTD$50,000,000’, that is about USD$7,5m, which, still according to Williams, had been accrued during John-Williams tenure between 2015 and 2019.
This dangerously high level of debt seemed to have escaped FIFA’s attention before the November 2019 election, somehow, even though every Member Association which benefits from FIFA grants, as the TTFA did under the presidency of John-Williams and his predecessors, is subjected to a yearly audit by the federation of federations. Less than a week before the TTFA election took place, Gianni Infantino had praised its soon-to-be-ousted president in those fulsome terms:
“I came to Trinidad and Tobago, and I was not believing to find somebody like [David John-Willams] in Trinidad and Tobago. I have to say the truth. Because Trinidad and Tobago Football Association was more or less in the same state as FIFA at that time. David was saying ‘shambles’, I say shambles was maybe a compliment for the state you found”.
“We found a Federation which was under the earth. TTFA, Trinidad and Tobago Football, very sadly, was in the headlines for other reasons than football, even though linked to football. Today, we are here, and proud to be here, because today, Trinidad and Tobago is the capital of the world of football.”
Within less than four months, FIFA would hold a very different view of T&T football. So did, from the start, the administration which replaced John-Williams’s regime and set out to conduct an audit of the FA’s financial records as soon as it got in power. A commission was convened for that purpose, and on 11 February 2020, the TTFA Financial Committee Chairman presented its report to Wallace, which was approved by the federation’s board of directors eleven days later.
So far, so good. The TTFA would be able to provide concrete evidence of its efforts to correct its past mistakes to the FIFA/CONCACAF delegation they expected to visit the two islands on a fact-finding mission from 25 to 27 February. That visit took place as planned, just beating the coronavirus lockdown, without anything happening which should have caused alarm within the local football administration.
Yet, less than three weeks later, on 17 March, the TTFA found out that it was the subject of a normalisation order; what’s more, the newly-suspended administration learnt of that decision through social media, as, quite extraordinarily, the FIFA employee who’d been charged to inform them of it had sent her message to the wrong address. Never had FIFA moved so quickly to impeach a new football administration in its whole history.
The haste with which FIFA had acted in TTFA’s case contrasted with its refusal to get involved in the long-standing dispute at the top of Kenyan football, which had caused this country’s own supreme sports arbitration body to call for a normalisation order to be issued, as reported by Josimar (http://josimarfootball.com/the-van-which-wasnt-there/); in vain until now. Similarly, the scandal which is rocking Haitian football at the moment (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/30/haiti-fa-president-accused-of-sexually-abusing-young-female-footballers) – the president of that FA, ‘Dadou’ Jean-Bart, is accused of sexually assaulting female footballers placed under his protection, some of them as young as 14 – has failed to elicit any concrete response from FIFA so far, aside from the setting of an investigating committee.
Critics of the decision to normalise the TTFA will point at what, to them, is a common thread running through these various cases. Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya and Haiti are all placed under the ultimate supervision of the Director of Development for Africa and the Caribbean, Véron Mosengo-Omba, one of Gianni Infantino’s oldest allies; and of the three FAs in question, two are led by supporters of the FIFA president, those of Kenya and Haiti, where FIFA had so far refrained from using the option of normalisation. The exception is Trinidad and Tobago, where the FIFA president’s ‘team-mate’ and political supporter was voted out. As only T&T has been the subject of a normalisation order issued by Mosengo-Omba, there is no need to be particularly imaginative to join those particular dots.
Verdict on Monday 25 May?
Taking the case to T&T’s High Court of Justice is not without risks for the Wallace administration. Not only is there no certainty that the tribunal will find in its favour: it is also very unlikely that a ‘positive’ ruling could be used as a legal means to overturn FIFA’s decision, as article 59.2 of the FIFA statutes states that “recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations. Recourse to ordinary courts for all types of provisional measures is also prohibited”. Articles 58.1 and 59.1 also specify that “appeals against final decisions passed by FIFA’s legal bodies […] shall be lodged with CAS within 21 days of receipt of the decision in question” and that “the confederations, member associations and leagues shall agree to recognise CAS as an independent judicial authority […]”
The question then becomes: could a successful lawsuit in Trinidad and Tobago provide the impetus for reviving the TTFA’s action at CAS? After all, there is a mechanism in place at the sports tribunal, a kind of ‘legal aid’ system which allows a claimant who cannot afford lodging an appeal to do it anyway, provided that they can prove the manifest legitimacy of their cause. Should T&T’s High Court of Justice find in favour of Wallace, this could give him the proof he needs.
In any case, no other avenues are open to him and his supporters right now and, to them, the gamble is worth taking, all the more so since the arguments on which their action is based are far from frivolous. Their main claims are that FIFA’s statutes “cannot override the [the TTFA’s] Constitution, its General Council, Board of Directors nor Duly Elected Executive Officers, whose power is derived from an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago” (which Josimar was told by an independent source was correct); and that “no power exists, pursuant under [the TTFA’s] Constitution or otherwise, that enables [FIFA] to remove the Board and/or the Duly Elected Executive Officers and/or any other internal body of [the TTFA] except as set out in [the TTFA’s] Constitution”.
This is not going to be a long-drawn Jarndyce v. Jarndyce affair, by the way. The case could be heard at the High Court of Justice as early as Monday 25 May, and, should he win, Wallace could be back in his office on the morning of the 26th. This wouldn’t mean that FIFA had lost; just that it did not rule on the TTFA’s patch, and that the fight would continue elsewhere, a fight that could take an unexpected turn if information which Josimar received shortly before this piece was published is proved founded.
The $2.5m Question: Was FIFA’s normalisation process initiated in January?
The TTFA didn’t choose its moment to fight back, but, had it been able to do so, it could have picked a worse time to do so. Gianni Infantino’s authority is questioned as it hasn’t been since he was elected for the first time in February 2016, following the impeachment proceedings which have just been launched against Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber, whom he met ‘privately’ on two occasions in 2016 and 2017 and who is suspected of colluding with the FIFA president over (it has been alleged) a federal investigation into a controversial TV contract which had been signed by Infantino when he was the legal affairs director of UEFA. The former Basel police chief Markus Mohler expressed the opinion in a widely-shared interview with the Luzerner Zeitung (https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/sport/ex-staatsanwalt-ueber-geheimes-lauber-infantino-treffen-es-besteht-ein-dringender-verdacht-gegen-den-fifa-chef-ld.1219570) that criminal proceedings should be opened against Infantino, a suggestion that would have seemed outlandish only a few months ago – but no longer.
As the gamble Williams and the TTFA board are taking is also one with public opinion, this looks like a propitious time for them to launch their counter-attack on FIFA, especially if this legal offensive allows them to substantiate a very embarrassing allegation against the governing body: namely, that FIFA had already contacted and interviewed (*) prospective members of its normalisation committee before issuing its normalisation order, perhaps as early as January 2020.
January 2020: that would be less than two months after the new administration had been elected, at least a full month before FIFA’s and CONCACAF’s own ‘fact-finding mission’ had taken place, and at least two weeks before the TTFA’s Finance Committee had completed its own audit.
This, when a FIFA spokesperson told Trinidad & Tobago daily Newsday that the decision to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA followed “the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to TT to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA”. The FIFA statement added: “the mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
Josimar asked William Wallace to confirm on the record if it was correct that the Chair of the Normalisation Committee Robert Hadad had confided to him that he’d been approached by FIFA in January, as we had been told. The TTFA president assured us this was the case.
It should also be noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe told the Trinidad Express that FIFA “had briefed the [T&T] government of its impending action prior (our italics) to dissolving the debt-ridden TTFA on March 17″, to quote from a piece written by Ian Prescott and published on 18 April. This would of course constitute in itself a serious infraction to FIFA’s own protocol. Cudjoe later back-tracked and said she had been misquoted. “After the public announcement was made…it was only after I was told by FIFA”.
Josimar asked Mr Hadad for his comments and received the following message: “FIFA first contacted me in mid-March and after considering the state of football I agreed to serve”. Mr Hadad, who did not wish to comment directly on Mr Wallace’s claim or tell whom exactly from FIFA had first got in touch with him, then specified that this approach had come after 17 March – the date FIFA issued its normalisation order – and that, after a few days of reflection, and indeed hesitation, he’d accepted the offer to be part of the normalisation committee, and then head it “to help Trinidad in general, and more specifically to help keep football alive in Trinidad so the youth and the players can benefit from it”.
It may well be that this discrepancy between dates remembered by the various parties turns out to be a key factor in determining the outcome of the battle between the TTFA and FIFA. Whose calendar will the T&T judges decide is the correct one?
(*) The story of how the newly-elected TTFA board, which had defeated one of Gianni Infantino’s main allies in the Caribbean, was de facto disbanded by FIFA less than four months after being democratically put in power has already been told by Josimar here (http://josimarfootball.com/infantinos-revenge/).
(*) A FIFA spokesperson clarified the appointment process to the Newsday newspaper in those terms: “The members of a Normalisation Committee are chosen through a series of interviews with different candidates. In this case, the interviews were conducted by delegates from FIFA and Concacaf. During that process, it is ensured that the members that compose the Normalisation Committee have different profiles, perform their duties with neutrality and gather the necessary competencies to temporarily lead the federation in question. In line with the FIFA governance regulations, all members of the normalisation committee are subject to an eligibility check, and none of its members are eligible for any of the open positions in the elections under any circumstances.”
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We’re obliged to ‘disobey unjust laws’! TTFA explains decision to take Fifa to court.
Wired868.com.
“[…] United TTFA states for the public record that the real reason for Fifa’s unwarranted and illegal interference in TTFA’s internal business is its desire to cover up the financial mismanagement and illegal actions of the last administration:
“Including the failure to provide contracts for the expenditure of TT$16 million on the Home of Football, the issuance of dozens of cheques against TTFA accounts that had insufficient funds (‘bounced cheques’), and failure to pay to relevant statutory authorities the sum of TT$4 million deducted from employees’ salaries…”
The following statement on the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s decision to take Fifa to the local High Court was issued today by the United TTFA slate of William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Joseph Sam Phillip, Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy:
In the founding Constitution of the Republic (1 August 1976), the people of Trinidad and Tobago assert ‘their belief in a democratic society in which all persons may, to the extent of their capacity, play some part in the institutions of the national life and thus develop and maintain due respect for lawfully constituted authority’.
The Republican Constitution continues ‘(we) recognise that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and the rule of law’.
We, the people of Trinidad and Tobago are a free and sovereign people.
Duty of care
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is an independent body established by the sovereign Parliament of our nation under Act 17 of 1982. In Article 2(d) the TTFA Constitution places a duty of care on the elected officials of the Association to ‘protect the interests of its members’.
TTFA is a free and sovereign institution under the Law of Trinidad and Tobago. On 24 November 2019 a new TTFA executive headed by my good-self was democratically elected by the football community in an election supervised by Fifa and Concacaf.
Less than four months later, on 17 March 2020, Fifa declared its removal of the democratically elected TTFA leadership and its appointment of a so-called normalisation committee. As one of its two rationale for this high handed and illegal move FIFA offered ‘the extremely low or non-existent financial management and governance at the TTFA’ and ‘the real risk of insolvency and illiquidity if corrective measures are not applied’.
Within four months of entering office this very issue was discovered by the new administration and a report generated and handed to Fifa, outlining how we intended to deal with what we identified.
Ironically, our discovery is one of the two reasons Fifa used to remove us from office. Even more ironically Fifa conducts an annual audit at the TTFA and would have done so for the previous four years and never discovered this issue—or, if it was discovered, never demanded that it be fixed.
The democratically elected TTFA officers immediately rejected and continue to reject this move by Fifa.
United TTFA, which comprises the democratically elected TTFA officers (William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, and Joseph Sam Taylor), plus Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy, considered the options available to the group to resist Fifa and initially decided to resort to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as allowed under Fifa Statutes.
In short order, it became clear that CAS was prepared to ignore its own regulations to facilitate Fifa in its handling of TTFA vs Fifa. Specifically, CAS directed the democratically elected TTFA officers to pay 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$278,000) to cover the entire cost of the proceedings, when its regulations require the two parties to a matter to pay half each.
It was only in response to the TTFA’s officers’ objection to this glaring denial of its own regulations that CAS called on Fifa to pay its half (20,000 Swiss francs or TT$139,000), which Fifa has since refused to do.
As a consequence of Fifa’s refusal and based on some other institutional behaviour of CAS, we along with our legal team have serious doubts that we would be afforded a fair hearing at CAS—even if we decided to pay Fifa’s part of the cost.
It was based on this that the United TTFA after long and hard deliberations decided to lodge a brief with the sovereign High court of Trinidad and Tobago, requesting:
1. A declaration that the purported decision of the Defendant (Fifa) dated the 17th March 2020, purporting to remove the Claimant’s (TTFA’s) duly elected executive is null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect;
2. A permanent injunction preventing [Fifa] from interfering in, and/or seeking to override the fair and transparent democratic processes of the [TTFA] and/or from attempting removing the [TTFA’s] duly elected executive from office;
3. A permanent injunction preventing [Fifa] and/or its agents and/or assigns and/or servants from interfering in the day-to-day management of the [TTFA], including the [TTFA’s] bank accounts and real property.
It was Martin Luther King who said that one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
Real reason for FIFA intervention
United TTFA states for the public record that the real reason for Fifa’s unwarranted and illegal interference in TTFA’s internal business is its desire to cover up the financial mismanagement and illegal actions of the last administration, including the failure to provide contracts for the expenditure of TT$16 million on the Home of Football, the issuance of dozens of cheques against TTFA accounts that had insufficient funds (‘bounced cheques’), and failure to pay to relevant statutory authorities the sum of TT$4 million deducted from employees’ salaries.
The fact is that Fifa (in the person of Veron Mosengo-Omba, Chief of Member Associations) repeatedly ignored efforts by TTFA Board members to bring said financial issues to its attention.
The fact is that Fifa conducts an annual audit of TTFA finances and ignored these issues. The fact is that Fifa turned a blind eye and ear to all evidence of mismanagement and wrongdoing and is complicit in the creation of the financial quagmire that today plagues the Association.
The fact is since 2004/05 FIFA has placed 33 member associations under a Normalisation Committee—of those 33 T&T is the only national association where the removed executive was not culpable for the infractions that led to normalisation.
The truth is that over the years, and certainly the David John-Williams years (2015-2019), Fifa showed no interest in good governance and proper financial management for the Association, nor in its ballooning debt.
Fifa rights vs Fifa dependency
United TTFA rejects the arguments of some that ‘Fifa has the right to intervene because they fund TTFA’. Let us be clear. The annual funding provided by Fifa to each of its 211 members is the right of each member as decided by the Fifa Congress. It is not a favour handed down to members by any Fifa president. That funding is generated mainly by the sale of broadcast rights for the Fifa (Men’s) World Cup.
All members of Fifa, including TTFA, participate in the World Cup and enjoy an annual dividend as shareholders of Fifa.
What is also clear is that there are high Fifa officials who are prepared to use the Fifa dependency of small member associations—members with little if any alternative income streams—to manipulate them to their political agenda and to use them for their vote, in return for which Fifa turns a blind eye and ear to internal shenanigans.
The democratically elected TTFA officers reject this Fifa game and reject the concept of Fifa dependency. Indeed, it has come to our attention that Fifa has instructed its so-called normalisation committee to abandon the deals already signed by TTFA and those that are imminent. It’s almost as if the dependency on funding from FIFA must be maintained at all cost.
Upon return to office the work of recruiting sponsors, equipment and finance, which was successfully underway and which Fifa has interrupted, will continue.
Historic struggle
United TTFA assures the football community and the people of Trinidad and Tobago that we have carefully considered the options, the potential risks and the beneficial outcomes of this struggle to defend the sovereignty of our country and our football.
We are guided by the principles of Freedom and Democracy enshrined in the supreme and governing law of Trinidad and Tobago—the Constitution—under which TTFA is established.
We shall prevail.
RELATED NEWS
A bully and a crook? TTFA launches High Court action against Fifa and Normalisation Committee.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his United TTFA slate launched a remarkable attack on Fifa today, as they changed their proposed battlefield with the world governing body from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to the local High Court.
This morning, Wallace, supported by TTFA vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip and United TTFA members Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy, instructed attorneys Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne to file an injunction in the High Court.
The legal action asks the court to declare Fifa’s decision to implement a normalisation committee in the twin island republic as ‘null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect’ and to place a permanent injunction against Fifa and its normalisation committee from ‘attempting removing (sic) the [TTFA’s] duly elected executive from office’ and ‘interfering in the day-to-day management of the [TTFA], including the [TTFA’s] bank accounts and real property’.
On 17 March, the Bureau of the Fifa Council, which is headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, declared that the TTFA’s officials—elected on 24 November 2019—were removed with immediate effect due to ‘extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, [which] have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity’.
Ten days later, Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura installed Robert Hadad as head of its normalisation committee with authority to manage the TTFA. Hadad is aided in that task by deputy chairperson Judy Daniel and ordinary member Nigel Romano.
Wallace immediately rejected Fifa’s decisions and, in a statement today, he accused the governing body of attempting to ‘cover up the financial mismanagement and illegal actions of the last administration’.
“United TTFA states for the public record that the real reason for Fifa’s unwarranted and illegal interference in TTFA’s internal business is its desire to cover up the financial mismanagement and illegal actions of the last administration,” stated Wallace, “including the failure to provide contracts for the expenditure of TT$16 million on the Home of Football, the issuance of dozens of cheques against TTFA accounts that had insufficient funds (‘bounced cheques’), and failure to pay to relevant statutory authorities the sum of TT$4 million deducted from employees’ salaries.
“The fact is that Fifa—in the person of Veron Mosengo-Omba, Chief of Member Associations—repeatedly ignored efforts by TTFA Board members to bring said financial issues to its attention.
“The fact is that Fifa conducts an annual audit of TTFA finances and ignored these issues. The fact is that Fifa turned a blind eye and ear to all evidence of mismanagement and wrongdoing and is complicit in the creation of the financial quagmire that today plagues the association.”
The TTFA’s legal move today will almost certainly be seen as a violation of article 59.2 of the Fifa Statutes, which states:
“Recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the Fifa regulations. Recourse to ordinary courts of law for all types of provisional measures is also prohibited.”
Fifa recognises only one judicial body, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Fifa itself is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Article 4 of the Fifa Statutes states:
“The association’s legally valid statutes shall be enclosed with the application for membership and shall contain the following mandatory provisions:
a) always to comply with the Statutes, regulations and decisions of FIFA and of the relevant confederation;
b) to comply with the Laws of the Game in force;
c) to recognise the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as specified in these Statutes.”
Fifa article 58.1: “Appeals against final decisions passed by Fifa’s legal bodies and against decisions passed by confederations, member associations or leagues shall be lodged with CAS within 21 days of receipt of the decision in question.”
Fifa article 59.1: “The confederations, member associations and leagues shall agree to recognise CAS as an independent judicial authority and to ensure that their members, affiliated players and officials comply with the decisions passed by CAS.”
The TTFA formally withdraw its matter from CAS this evening. In a statement today, Wallace reiterated his distrust of the Swiss arbitration body.
“In short order, it became clear that CAS was prepared to ignore its own regulations to facilitate Fifa in its handling of TTFA vs Fifa,” stated Wallace. “Specifically, CAS directed the democratically elected TTFA officers to pay 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$278,000) to cover the entire cost of the proceedings, when its regulations require the two parties to a matter to pay half each.
“It was only in response to the TTFA’s officers’ objection to this glaring denial of its own regulations that CAS called on Fifa to pay its half (20,000 Swiss francs or TT$139,000), which Fifa has since refused to do.
“As a consequence of Fifa’s refusal and based on some other institutional behaviour of CAS, we along with our legal team have serious doubts that we would be afforded a fair hearing at CAS—even if we decided to pay Fifa’s part of the cost.”
Thus far, Wallace has based his defiance on article 38 of the TTFA constitution, which states that ‘the general meeting may dismiss a person or a member of a body’ and ‘the board of directors may place the dismissal of a person or a member of a body on the agenda for the general meeting’.
The person proposed for removal ‘has the right to defend him or herself’ and ‘the motion for dismissal shall be decided by means of secret ballot [with] a majority of three quarters of the valid votes’.
Article 1.1 of the TTFA Constitution defines the local football body as ‘a private organisation of an associative nature in compliance with the relevant legislation of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and incorporated by Act of Parliament (#17 of 1982)’.
However, article 60.1 of the Fifa Statutes states:
“The confederations, member associations and leagues shall agree to comply fully with any decisions passed by the relevant Fifa bodies which, according to these Statutes, are final and not subject to appeal.”
Fifa Statutes, as already shown, leave provision for an appeal to CAS.
Article 2.1 of the TTFA Constitution also suggests some defence to Fifa when it gives the objectives of the local football body as:
“… To respect and prevent any infringement of the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of Fifa, Concacaf, CFU and TTFA as well as the Laws of the Game, and to ensure that these are also respected by its members…”
Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court must now decide which constitution supersedes the other.
In the meantime, the Congress of the world governing body—which comprises of all 211 member associations—can suspend or expel the TTFA for violating Fifa’s Statutes.
Article 10 of Fifa’s Statutes states:
“The Congress shall decide whether to admit, suspend or expel a member association solely upon the recommendation of the Council.”
The Council is headed by Infantino and includes Fifa’s eight vice-presidents and 28 members from its six confederations. Concacaf’s five members on the Council are president Victor Montagliani (Canada), female member Sonia Fulford (Turks and Caicos), Central America member Pedro Chaluja (Panama), North America member Sunil Gulati (USA) and Caribbean member Luis Hernandez (Cuba).
Although the Caribbean accounts for 25 of Concacaf’s 35 Fifa-recognised member associations (71 percent), it has just two of the confederation’s five representatives (40 percent) on the Fifa Council.
More likely than not, the decision on the TTFA’s immediate fate will be made by the seven member Bureau of the Fifa Council, which is also headed by Infantino and includes one representative from each confederation. Any declaration by the Bureau must be ratified at the next Council meeting.
If the TTFA is suspended, no member association within Fifa will be allowed to ‘exercise any sporting contact’ with the local football body.
Article 16 of the Fifa Statutes states:
“The Congress may suspend a member association solely at the request of the Council. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Council may, without a vote of the Congress, temporarily suspend with immediate effect a member association that seriously violates its obligations.
“[…] A suspension of a member association by the Congress requires a three-quarter (3/4) majority of the member associations present and eligible to vote. A suspension of a member association by the Congress or the Council shall be confirmed at the next Congress by a three-quarter majority of the member associations present and eligible to vote.
“If it is not confirmed, such suspension shall be automatically lifted.”
It is a risk that Wallace appears to be ready to take, and the retired Carapichaima East Secondary school vice-president reiterated his view that the TTFA holds the moral high ground.
“Within four months of entering office, this very issue [of the TTFA’s inadequate financial structure and rising debt] was discovered by the new administration and a report generated and handed to Fifa, outlining how we intended to deal with what we identified,” said Wallace. “Ironically, our discovery is one of the two reasons Fifa used to remove us from office. Even more ironically Fifa conducts an annual audit at the TTFA and would have done so for the previous four years and never discovered this issue—or, if it was discovered, never demanded that it be fixed.
“The democratically elected TTFA officers immediately rejected and continue to reject this move by Fifa… It was Martin Luther King who said that one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
Wallace further accused the Infantino-led body of bullying small associations for his own political objectives and using its annual subvention—which United TTFA described as ‘dividends’ due to all its stakeholders or member associations from the sale of World Cup television rights—to force compliance.
Infantino was an unabashed supporter of controversial former TTFA president David John-Williams—under whose tenure the local body’s debt skyrocketed from TT$18 million (US$2.6) to over TT$50 million (US$7 million) in just four years, despite the fact that the TTFA’s subvention from Fifa tripled since 2017.
“The truth is that over the years, and certainly the David John-Williams years (2015-2019), Fifa showed no interest in good governance and proper financial management for the Association, nor in its ballooning debt,” said Wallace. “What is also clear is that there are high Fifa officials who are prepared to use the Fifa dependency of small member associations—members with little if any alternative income streams—to manipulate them to their political agenda and to use them for their vote, in return for which Fifa turns a blind eye and ear to internal shenanigans.
“The democratically elected TTFA officers reject this Fifa game and reject the concept of Fifa dependency. Indeed, it has come to our attention that Fifa has instructed its so-called normalisation committee to abandon the deals already signed by TTFA and those that are imminent.
“It’s almost as if the dependency on funding from Fifa must be maintained at all cost.”
Even before Fifa implemented a normalisation committee in March, the governing body stalled on releasing its annual subvention to the TTFA since January and never provided any funding to the Wallace-led body.
Hadad did not respond to the TTFA’s injunction up until the time of publication. In truth, the operations of the local football body were already at a virtual standstill.
In two months as Fifa’s supposed man of business on the island, Hadad is yet to meet his unpaid office staff—whether virtually or otherwise—or discuss contracts with coaches, owed match fees to players or debts to creditors.
Wired868 was informed that requests for meetings with the normalisation committee chairman from the aforementioned parties were invariably met with promises of a get-together at an unspecified date.
At present, technical director Dion La Foucade seems to be the only person capable of regularly getting Hadad at the other end of the phone.
The TTFA’s website and email addresses were taken offline last month after the relevant UK tech firm complained that Hadad routinely snubbed its messages.
Things are likely to get far worse for the TTFA before they get better.
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pull stones, in my reading, there isn't vacillation. It must be appreciated that the matter is a fluid matter. There is no direct line. As such, approaches will change. That's part for the course.
no pun intended big brother but some of those words you’re using are a little to sophisticated and I’m not familiar, so please give me in layman’s terms what you’re actually saying, as this ttfa and FIFA thing is driving me to the limit, I really don’t know how much of this nonsense I could take.
Strap on the seat belt, bredrin. There's a lot more distance to ride on this rollercoaster. Many thought it was destined to be a 110 m hurdle run. Zurich thought it would be an immediately done deal and it hasn't been.
vac·il·la·tion
/ˌvasəˈlāSH(ə)n/
noun
the inability to decide between different opinions or actions; indecision
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pull stones, in my reading, there isn't vacillation. It must be appreciated that the matter is a fluid matter. There is no direct line. As such, approaches will change. That's part for the course.
no pun intended big brother but some of those words you’re using are a little to sophisticated and I’m not familiar, so please give me in layman’s terms what you’re actually saying, as this ttfa and FIFA thing is driving me to the limit, I really don’t know how much of this nonsense I could take.
Strap on the seat belt, bredrin. There's a lot more distance to ride on this rollercoaster. Many thought it was destined to be a 110 m hurdle run. Zurich thought it would be an immediately done deal and it hasn't been.
vac·il·la·tion
/ˌvasəˈlāSH(ə)n/
noun
the inability to decide between different opinions or actions; indecision
Eh Eh ...ah learn big word today. ;D
A more layman's approach here. ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jAmUB7uYs&lc=Ugz-cQldQK0aL8K0Ql14AaABAg
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Yuh almost make it thru , vb. Yuh was on the Representative offence team , then yuh get emotional. :yellowcard:
:D
Good breakdown all the same, we can edit a few things. :-[
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Yuh almost make it thru , vb. Yuh was on the Representative offence team , then yuh get emotional. :yellowcard:
:D
Good breakdown all the same, we can edit a few things. :-[
I was very proud of myself for most of it but the adrenaline got the better of me at the end. :)
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Haiti football federation head temporarily suspended
BBC Sports.
The president of the Haitian Football Federation, Yves Jean-Bart, has been suspended from his post for 90 days.
The governing body of world football, Fifa, took the step after allegations emerged that he coerced teenage female players into having sex with him.
He allegedly threatened the girls with losing their spot at the national training centre if they did not comply.
Mr Jean-Bart categorically denies the claims.
Police are investigating the allegations.
Fifa said the suspension would come into force immediately and apply to "all football-related activities at both national and international level".
Mr Jean-Bart, 73, has been in charge of Haiti's football federation for the past two decades.
The incidents under investigation are alleged to have taken place in the past five years.
They were first reported by The Guardian newspaper last month. Since then, several employees at the Haitian football federation have been summoned by a judge to answer questions.
It is not the first time a high-ranking Fifa official has ben embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal.
In June 2019, the former president of the Afghanistan Football Federation, Keramuudin Karim, was given a lifetime ban following allegations that he had sexually abused players in the women's team.
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WATCH: Wired868’s Lasana Liburd discusses the Fifa normalisation committee with TV6 Morning Edition host Fazeer Mohammed.
https://www.youtube.com/v/qZlmlibAVpg
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LISTEN: The Ballchat family was joined by Lasana Liburd, journalist for wired868.com in Trinidad and Tobago, to discuss William Wallace of Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) versus FIFA. Why did FIFA implement a normalization committee? Who is Robert Hadad? Why did Victor Montagliani, CONCACAF president, insert himself into TTFA's presidential election? (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ballchat-podcast-052520/id1483711856?i=1000475769907) The Ballchat family also discussed Bundesliga, EPL Project Restart, FC Cincy's new manager, Leon Bailey and JFF drama.
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Downer: Sancho used local courts—so why not Wallace? And Look Loy was not removed
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer, one of the framers of the TTFA’s constitution, has defended president William Wallace’s decision to legally challenge Fifa’s attempt to remove him, based on his perception of natural justice and the governing body’s own statutes.
The TTFA Constitution—article 38.2-2—and FIFA’s standard statutes reflect each other verbatim on the procedure necessary to remove a member:
“The motion for dismissal must be justified. It will be sent to the members of the Board of Directors and/or to the members along with the agenda. The person or body in question has the right to defend him or herself…”
Downer, a former Fifa match referee, said Wallace has a moral right to defend his position.
“The decision to remove him without allowing him to state his case, violates natural justice in all courts of law,” Downer told Wired868. “For somebody to be punished—and the removal via a normalisation committee is a punishment—they should be given a chance to state their case. And the same thing is in Fifa statutes regarding the dismissal of a member association.”
Thus far, the Fifa Bureau of the Council, which is headed by president Gianni Infantino, has not only declined the opportunity to give Wallace his say but also refused to justify its decision.
The Bureau claimed its decision to remove the board of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) was based on a ‘recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago’; but did not publish the report or share it with the local body.
And Wallace and his officers—as well as finance committee chair Kendall Tull—said members of the mission, which comprised of Fifa finance coordinator Mehmet Dirlik, Concacaf finance manager Alejandro Kesende, Concacaf finance department member Dally Fuentes and independent auditor Valeria Yepes, gave the opposite impression to local administrators.
Downer suggested that the Bureau’s actions not only violated the principle of natural justice but also seemed at odds with several articles of Fifa’s own statutes, including article 45:
‘The Member Associations Committee shall deal with relations between FIFA and its member associations as well as the member associations’ compliance with the FIFA Statutes and draw up proposals for optimum cooperation. The committee shall also monitor the evolution of the Statutes and regulations of Fifa, the confederations and member associations.’
Downer felt the Bureau’s stated concerns regarding the TTFA, sounded tailor-made for Fifa’s Members Association Committee.
“I would just wonder why Fifa would not use this article,” said Downer. “There must be good reason for having this article there to settle things as now befalls the TTFA, instead of having recourse to normalisation committees with all its implications. It is in their statutes.
“Why did they set up this committee, just to be disregarded? It states clearly the Members Associations Committee shall deal with relations between Fifa and its member associations…
“Fifa could easily have sent their members of this committee to Trinidad to sit down with the elected officers to see how best the matters could be resolved, instead of resorting to this heavy-handed normalisation committee approach.”
Downer scoffed at arguments put forward by Pro League interim chairman Brent Sancho and former technical director Anton Corneal that Wallace’s decision to take up the matter in the High Court was putting the local game in harm’s way.
Article 59.1-2 of the Fifa Statutes states:
“The confederations, member associations and leagues shall agree to recognise CAS as an independent judicial authority and to ensure that their members, affiliated players and officials comply with the decisions passed by CAS. The same obligation shall apply to intermediaries and licensed match agents.
“Recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations. Recourse to ordinary courts of law for all types of provisional measures is also prohibited.”
Yet, Sancho himself took the local football body to court for 2006 World Cup bonus fees, despite warnings of a Fifa ban by then Fifa vice-president Jack Warner. Corneal also prevailed against the TTFA in the High Court.
So too have past and present employees like Kendall Walkes, Stephen Hart, Ramesh Ramdhan and Sheldon Phillips. Look Loy also used the High Court, two years ago, to have former TTFA president David John-Williams provide transparency for the controversial Fifa-funded Home of Football project.
“In my wide experience, I don’t know that a body has ever being expelled solely for going to court—there is usually more to the debate than that,” said Downer. “There have been cases of persons using the court, including locally. The same Sancho went to the High court. The TTFA could have expelled him, because the TTFA has the same thing in its constitution as Fifa.
“How can you be thrown out merely for going to a local court for justice?”
Downer insisted that, morality aside, the current impasse hinges on a fine legal point. So the current forum for the debate was inevitable.
“Every member’s constitution is approved by Fifa and one of the main things is they must not be anything in the member’s constitution that conflicts with any of Fifa’s statutes,” said Downer. “The TTFA constitution gives the right to suspend or dismiss officers only to the general meeting of the TTFA. And that is not only in the TTFA constitution—it is also in the Fifa standard statutes, verbatim.
“I am sorry it didn’t go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but perhaps the local court will make a determination because it is a legal point. Fifa approved the TTFA’s constitution in 2015 and the very TTFA constitution is very clear in article 38.
“[…] In other words the move made by Fifa abridges the constitution of the TTFA itself; and this requires legal interpretation. I would have been glad to see CAS settle that point but if not, I will be glad to see a legal mind settle it in the local court.”
Downer confirmed that normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad has not contacted the referees’ association as yet and said he was unimpressed with the work of the Fifa-appointed body so far.
“At this moment, football is at a dead-still—not even a standstill,” he said. “We know there is Covid but why can’t you be planning still? The referees association had a council meeting just [yesterday] online.”
He scoffed at suggestions that Hadad, with Fifa’s permission, would single-handedly bend local football and its constitution to the will of the governing body.
“The TTFA Constitution was approved by Fifa and is almost word for the word the same as the Fifa standard statutes,” said Downer. “But in any case, anything Hadad proposes must be decided upon by the TTFA Congress. It must be remembered that the normalisation committee has a very narrow mandate—only the executive [of the TTFA] has been replaced.
“I was asked the question about the general secretary, which is not part of the executive but an employee of the Association. Similarly, all the committees appointed by the Congress are in place. If that was not the case, football would stop completely; and football has to go on.”
The TTFA technical committee is headed by Keith Look Loy, who is also a member of Wallace’s United TTFA slate. At present, technical director Dion La Foucade appears to be operating outside of his remit as he appears to have been operating as a one-man technical committee.
But Downer stressed that Fifa’s decision only removed Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip.
Look Loy apart, other committees that should not be affected by the implementation of a normalisation committee are: finance (headed by Tull), club licensing (headed by Jamilya Muhammad), sports medicine (headed by Roger Evelyn), the competitions committee (headed by Sam Phillip) and the players status committee.
The TTFA Congress also made the following appointments prior to the normalisation committee: Richard Piper (national teams director), Jinelle James (women’s football director), Norris Ferguson (club licensing and compliance director) and Kelvin Jack (head of goalkeeping).
“The technical committee has to function,” said Downer. “They have not been disbanded and that is not within the remit of the normalisation committee—the functions of those committees is not one of their mandates.”
The mandate of the normalisation committee is:
to run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
He urged football stakeholders to stand on the side of justice and let the law take its course.
“This is basically a constitutional matter and my big point is that Fifa approved the TTFA constitution and was very instrumental in devising the present TTFA constitution, which is almost a carbon copy of the Fifa standard statutes,” said Downer. “Only a court of law can settle this—not only for us but for any other world association. I don’t see why anybody should be punished for challenging the legality of that.
“The principle of natural justice is paramount in law that somebody must be given an opportunity to defend him or herself. Even children get a chance to say something in their defence. Is Fifa going against a constitution that they themselves have approved?
“This is a matter of principle—not a matter of getting banned or not getting banned. Everybody in the world has a right to seek justice. If that is not the case, then something is wrong somewhere.”
RELATED NEWS
TTOC president: Fifa and CAS failed ‘duty of care’ to TTFA; that’s why case is in High Court
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Besieged Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his vice-presidents, according to Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis, are not the only ones responsible for their case against Fifa ending up in the local High Court.
On Monday, Wallace moved an action against his supposedly illegal and unjust removal by the Fifa Bureau of the Council from the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to the local courts, after claiming that his hope for fair treatment from CAS had been shattered.
Wallace, guided by attorneys Matthew Gayle and Dr Emir Crowne, claimed Fifa appeared to be creating and adjusting its own deadlines for procedural filings while the world governing body refused CAS’ request to pay half the cost of arbitration upfront—which left the TTFA saddled with the full figure of 40,000 Swiss francs.
Fifa statutes forbid members from challenging its decisions in any legal forum other than CAS, at the risk of sanctions. However, the TTOC president believes that stipulation makes it even more important for the CAS forum to be above reproach.
And he suggested that Fifa and CAS might have undermined the TTFA’s faith in the arbitration body and thus forced them to seek justice elsewhere.
“Fifa statutes prohibit members from pursuing matters in civil court,” Lewis told Wired868. “And given such a prohibition, Fifa has a duty of care to ensure that there is equitable treatment and due process in dealing with matters [at CAS]. According to Lord Chief Justice Hewart, ‘justice must not only be done it must be seen it should be manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done’.
“[…] I consider this an important landmark case in the history of lex sportiva (sport law). And CAS ought to have considered it important to hear the case.”
Lewis felt CAS did not do enough to facilitate Wallace and the TTFA, in a case that has already sparked interest in several corners of the globe.
Can Fifa essentially override the constitution of one of its member associations and force a regime change after just four months, without even the attempt of mediation?
The local official said it is a case that sport lawyers would salivate over and CAS, as ‘the privy council of sport’, had a duty to ensure they heard it.
“The founding purpose of CAS was to take international sport disputes out of national courts and to create a specialised forum where these disputes could be heard and decided quickly and inexpensively,” he said. “The principle of the autonomy of sport doesn’t mean any organisation is above the rule of law and should not be expected to adhere to principles of good governance.
“[…] CAS’ purpose is to guarantee independence and impartiality and there is a discretion to provide legal aid to facilitate access to justice for natural persons who may not have the financial means.
“This is a case that even Fifa and all international sport federations and sport lawyers should have wanted CAS to adjudicate and decide on, quickly and inexpensively. This is an important case for global sports law.”
Lewis, who helped frame the current TTFA constitution which was accepted by Fifa in 2015, disagreed that the ongoing impasse is a constitutional one.
“I will not categorise it as a constitutional crisis—it’s not,” said Lewis. “The Independent Review Constitution Commission, which was Fifa approved, created a constitution that allowed football to hold its elected officers to account. It fostered democratic elections. There have been two changes of administrations [since it was ratified].
“It has facilitated transparency and accountability. That’s not to suggest by any means that the constitution, like all constitutions, doesn’t require review and amendments from time to time—due to a changing and evolving operational environment.”
For the TTOC president, it is neither the TTFA constitution nor the leadership of Wallace that needs to be defended. Rather, he said, it is Fifa’s behaviour that should be under scrutiny.
“Fifa has the power, by virtue of their statues, to appoint a normalisation committee,” said Lewis. “The exercise of that right can’t be unfettered. It’s not a right to act in an arbitrary, illogical manner devoid of equitable treatment, rule of law and principles, without due process and natural justice; or to act unreasonably.
“Did Fifa reach its decision by transparent and objective criteria? On the facts of this particular case did Fifa act reasonably? Was there proportionality?
“Was the legitimate expectation of the democratically elected TTFA Executive breached? It’s a legitimate legal and sport law question that CAS would have had to consider and decide.”
Wallace and his general secretary, Ramesh Ramdhan, insisted on executing and publishing a forensic audit of the local football body—including the controversial TTFA Home of Football project. Lewis described the disruption of that exercise by Fifa’s normalisation committee as a ‘travesty’.
Notably, a full two months later, the decision by the Bureau, which is headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, is yet to be ratified by the Fifa Council.
Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer explained that the Bureau was previously referred to in the Fifa statutes as an ‘emergency committee’ but underwent a name change under Infantino in 2016.
Downer is skeptical about the wisdom in granting that body such far-reaching powers.
“The powers of an emergency committee must be—and usually is—limited to matters that are considered urgent and pressing which happen between Council meetings,” said Downer. “But this is a far-reaching decision for any emergency committee to make, which up to now has not been ratified by the Council [since their May meeting was postponed].
“What is the justification for making a decision that can affect a whole association like that—and against the constitution of that very association? At this moment, football [in Trinidad and Tobago] is at a dead-still; not even a standstill.”
Lewis, who is nearing the end of his second and final term as TTOC president, suggested that sport will not reach its full potential once international sporting bodies are motivated by self-interest and not the benefit of its members.
“If the world of Olympic sport wants to continue the veneer of the principle of the autonomy of sport, there must be best practice, legal processes and standards,” said Lewis. “Sport organisations aren’t, in my view, immune from legal intervention and legal principles. There must be safeguards that ensure fair treatment and so that organisations cannot make irrational and arbitrary decisions or act in bad faith.
“The global sports movement is Euro-centric, incremental, conservative and bureaucratic; that has been the biggest impediment to change and transformation and modernisation. The playing field isn’t level; it’s a daily battle.
“The entire ecosystem is wired—no pun intended—to protect the status quo. The ongoing abuse of their dominant position is real.”
The TTFA’s elected officers asked the High Court, on Monday, to declare Fifa’s decision to implement a normalisation committee in the twin island republic as ‘null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect’ and to place a permanent injunction against Fifa and its normalisation committee from ‘attempting removing the [TTFA’s] duly elected executive from office’ and ‘interfering in the day-to-day management of the [TTFA], including the [TTFA’s] bank accounts and real property’.
No date has been set for the hearing.
Fifa has been served court documents but is yet to respond to the impending matter.
Video - Wired868's Lasana Liburd on Fifa normalisation committee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZlmlibAVpg&feature=emb_title)
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“The global sports movement is Euro-centric, incremental, conservative and bureaucratic; that has been the biggest impediment to change and transformation and modernisation. The playing field isn’t level; it’s a daily battle.
“The entire ecosystem is wired—no pun intended—to protect the status quo. The ongoing abuse of their dominant position is real.”
Quite true. Could not have said it any better.
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FIFA appoints law firm of Denbow SC in case against TTFA
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
WORLD football’s governing body, FIFA, will defend itself against claims made by the ousted former executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
Yesterday, the Oxford Street, Port of Spain law firm of Dr Claude Denbow SC, filed an ‘Entry Of Appearance’ on behalf of defendant FIFA to the registrar of the High Court of Justice, located at the Hall of Justice, Knox Street, Port of Spain. Filing on behalf of FIFA was instructing attorney Donna Denbow, with Jerome Rajcoomar slated as junior counsel.
FIFA and former executives of the TTFA are headed for legal battle in the local High Court. TTFA president William Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip are challenging FIFA’s decision to replace them and institute a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, headed by Robert Hadad.
Through local attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gale, the ex-TTFA executives got local court permission to stake a claim against FIFA, which was emailed to the Switzerland-based organisation last week. Through the local courts, the former TTFA executives are seeking a declaration that FIFA’s decision to remove them from office on March 17, is null and void. The TTFA are also seeking an injunction preventing FIFA and/or its agents from interfering in the day-to-day management of its operations -- including its bank accounts and property.
Yesterday’s action provided the court registrar with a basic requisition of the claim. FIFA’s representative simply had to fill out an ‘Appearance to Claim’ form advising of certain particulars, including whether FIFA will defend the claim. With a simple ‘yes’, FIFA admitted receipt of the TTFA’s claim, dated May 19, 2020.
Point 6 of the ‘Appearance to Claim Form’, filed yesterday by Denbow, asked, ‘Do you intend to defend the claim?’ To that, through its legal representative, FIFA responded ‘yes’. To the question, ‘Do you admit the whole claim?’, FIFA’s response was ‘no’.
FIFA must now file a defence within 28 days of the May 19 date when the claim was served upon them. By defending its position, FIFA also garners irrefutable proof of having been taken to a local court by the TTFA. FIFA rules generally prohibit member Associations from taking it to local courts and put forward suspension(s) as a consequence of such action.
Article 64 of the FIFA statutes require members not to take court action, except through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
‘The Associations shall insert a clause in their statutes or regulations, stipulating that it is prohibited to take disputes in the Association or disputes affecting Leagues, members of Leagues, clubs, members of clubs, players, officials and other Association Officials to ordinary courts of law,’ the FIFA statute states.
Article 64 further states, ‘Instead of recourse to ordinary courts of law, provision shall be made for arbitration. Such disputes shall be taken to an independent and duly constituted arbitration tribunal recognised under the rules of the Association or Confederation or to CAS.’
Further, point two of Article 13, relating to FIFA members’ obligations, states, ‘Violation of the above-mentioned obligations by any member may lead to sanctions provided for in these statutes’.
RELATED NEWS
Denbow: We will be defending FIFA stoutly.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
FIFA, the world governing body for football, is set to be defended at all cost for its position to appoint a Normalisation Committee to take charge of local football and thereby ousting the legitimately elected team of president William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick when the case comes up on June 16. FIFA was given 28 days to file its defence which was served on it on May 19.
When contacted yesterday, Donna Denbow, the instructing Attorney on the three-member team of Dr Claude Denbow SC, Jerome Rajcoomar (junior counsel) and herself, told Guardian Media Sports on Wednesday that she believes they have a very strong case against the ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) executives, which is being represented by the pair of Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle.
On Tuesday, the Law firm which is situated on Oxford Street in Port-of-Spain filed an Entry of Appearance to the registrar of the High Court at the Hall of Justice on Knox Street.
FIFA on March 17 appointed a normalisation committee to govern T&T football, saying the association faced a very high risk of insolvency and illiquidity. However, Wallace and his team have been attempting to defend itself, by first going through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, however, their attorneys two weeks ago submitted a complaint of unfair treatment and bias toward the FIFA before the matter started and decided to withdraw they challenge opting to take their fight to the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago.
Denbow (Donna) said her team is currently in the process of putting together its defence, saying they are going to be defending the FIFA stoutly.
"We feel we have a very strong position and we will be coming out punching, we are not buckling down."
Denbow promised they will also be addressing concerns on why and how the FIFA ended up in the High Court when its Statutes clearly state that Member Associations, such as the TTFA, could not take it to the local courts in their respective country. She also believes Gayle, one of two TTFA attorneys, should also explain how the parties ended up in the high court.
Meanwhile, Denbow also took offence to an online report which labelled her firm as the 'Rolls Royce' of the legal profession, describing the report as defamatory. In explaining how her firm was chosen to represent the sport's supreme body, she said FIFA reached out to them.
"We just received a call and asked if we could handle the matter. How these things work is that normally people refer you, they check on you, they google you to see if you are competent and if you are their person, but more often we send our CV up and they would ask a few people, and we came on board. I don't know how they heard of us, we don't know."
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De capo willing to spend 💰 on Trini soil but not on Swiss soil. :idea: :thinking: :thinking:
Can you think of foreign deep pocket who would be motivated to throw the bank against de capo? I bet allyuh know who would know who would know who would be down.
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WATCH: Wired868’s Lasana Liburd discusses the Fifa normalisation committee with TV6 Morning Edition host Fazeer Mohammed.
https://www.youtube.com/v/qZlmlibAVpg
Member associations are not incentivized to poke their heads out on this impasse. And, there are also obstacles that would preclude them from understanding the particulars of the matter. However, even if they have some awareness of the TTFA's position, they would still need to be sensitized to a degree that would be difficult without comprehensive effort.
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FIFA's dirty hypocrisy - Bailout Zimbabwe but 'normalise' T&T?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
Since my last article a few weeks ago relating to this TTFA/FIFA saga, I genuinely thought things would have gotten better. How silly was I? Every day, a different headline appears in the media and I have been following the battle intensely.
This, as I have from day one, felt and still believe that FIFA is wrong and the stance taken by Wallace and company is a principled one which I completely endorse - although one or two of my colleagues have tried to persuade me otherwise.
I am certain that many of us have found ourselves going down a similar road that the deposed TTFA (T&T Football Association) executive is travelling on. But, it is natural and good practice to stand up for what you believe in. What does not affect us personally, we have a lethargic tendency to sit back and watch on.
Interesting and encouraging is the fact that persons like T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis, who does not question FIFA statutes to appoint a normalisation committee, are questioning their “illogical manner” and unreasonable behaviour without any due process for its heavy-handed imposition on the TTFA.
Then, 'Mr Constitution' himself, Osmond Downer spoke out about FIFA's lack of principles concerning natural justice. These learned gentlemen could have easily sat in their corner and not gotten involved. But, they clearly know wrongdoing when they see it and have spoken out. Ultimately, no one can accuse either of them of favouring the deposed TTFA.
Unfortunately, upon my investigation, the same can't be said for other persons who have positions in various regional associations. So when a headline yells out, “Regional associations: Ban Wallace and Friends, not TTFA”, my initial thought was that Wallace had lost his support within the football fraternity. I would also expect the normal man in the street, following this impasse, would be thinking the same.
But, on checking the four regional associations - Southern FA (SFA) Eastern FA (EFA) Central FA (CFA) and the Eastern Counties Football Union, it was brought to my attention that they never supported the democratic election of Wallace and company in the first place. They were all openly in favour of other candidates. Moreover, when you examine each of these associations, they represent a sorry state of affairs for regional association football.
The SFA has five registered football teams to participate in their league and that represents the whole of the south zone - much unlike cricket which is broken down into south, south-east and south-west. Then, the EFA has seven teams. To lend some perspective, years ago when I coached Carib FC, there were two divisions and the first division had 12 teams alone. CFA has 10 teams of which seven are opposed to the president of the CFA, one of his supporters works for him so I don't know if one can count him in.
Undoubtedly, the biggest scandal of all is Eastern Counties - they have not had football there for two years but somehow they still have voting rights. What a disaster! I understand they were to have an AGM (annual general meeting) but it hasn't happened. I suppose COVID-19 would be a good excuse for them to use.
Imagine, these are the regional associations calling for Wallace to be banned. Shameless. These footballing outcasts (or are they misfits?) suddenly found a voice once again, seeing as nobody has heard from them since the elections apart from now to oppose the deposed TTFA. Quite frankly, I wish they will all just go back in their regional associations and try and improve their leagues whenever football gets going again because they have been failing miserably.
The Eastern Counties, on the other hand, should perhaps beg the imposed normalisation committee to come and help them so they can identify what a football looks like.
I remain confident that there are some in this country who can email or pick up the phone and call FIFA and say that what they are doing is damaging the image of T&T football. And if you are true to your word and really love the beautiful game, let's all sit around a table and see how we can solve this ugly mess. The crux of the problem is that I don't think FIFA wants to break this deadlock. We all know what they want and who they want. But, what they did not expect was this fight and resistance from the deposed TTFA. Credit to Wallace and his team because who in their right frame of mind would take on the mighty FIFA - often perceived as one of the world's most corrupt organisations.
Now, why would FIFA want to solve this dispute when they very well have orchestrated the heavy-handed imposition of this normalisation committee to suit their own purpose? This is the same FIFA that has recently agreed to bailout the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) of its US$10 Million debt which equates to about TT$67.5 Million. This bailout is in addition to the US$1 Million grant that FIFA issues the association annually. The TTFA's debt is roughly TT$17 Million less than the ZIFA but they send a normalisation committee here in T&T. Somebody, please help me with the maths here but I suppose it has nothing to do with maths, does it? You see, justice must not only be done but seen to be done. There is no justice here.
It will hurt if we get banned by FIFA and the youngsters will suffer - I have heard this ad nauseam and it is indeed indisputable. But, we have an obligation to those same youngsters to talk to them and teach them right from wrong; to stand up against injustice in a correct, law-abiding manner; to know that injustices should never be allowed to occur.
When we coach youngsters, it is not only to improve their football but to make them better human beings and this is one lesson, as tough as it may be, that they need to learn from and understand. No matter the outcome, little T&T stood up to FIFA to fight against injustice, hypocrisy and dirty underhand dealings.
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Denbow: We will be defending FIFA stoutly
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
FIFA, the world governing body for football, is set to be defended at all cost for its position to appoint a Normalisation Committee to take charge of local football and thereby ousting the legitimately elected team of president William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick when the case comes up on June 16. FIFA was given 28 days to file its defence which was served on it on May 19.
When contacted yesterday, Donna Denbow, the instructing Attorney on the three-member team of Dr Claude Denbow SC, Jerome Rajcoomar (junior counsel) and herself, told Guardian Media Sports on Wednesday that she believes they have a very strong case against the ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) executives, which is being represented by the pair of Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle.
On Tuesday, the Law firm which is situated on Oxford Street in Port-of-Spain filed an Entry of Appearance to the registrar of the High Court at the Hall of Justice on Knox Street.
FIFA on March 17 appointed a normalisation committee to govern T&T football, saying the association faced a very high risk of insolvency and illiquidity. However, Wallace and his team have been attempting to defend itself, by first going through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, however, their attorneys two weeks ago submitted a complaint of unfair treatment and bias toward the FIFA before the matter started and decided to withdraw they challenge opting to take their fight to the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago.
Denbow (Donna) said her team is currently in the process of putting together its defence, saying they are going to be defending the FIFA stoutly.
"We feel we have a very strong position and we will be coming out punching, we are not buckling down."
Denbow promised they will also be addressing concerns on why and how the FIFA ended up in the High Court when its Statutes clearly state that Member Associations, such as the TTFA, could not take it to the local courts in their respective country. She also believes Gayle, one of two TTFA attorneys, should also explain how the parties ended up in the high court.
Meanwhile, Denbow also took offence to an online report which labelled her firm as the 'Rolls Royce' of the legal profession, describing the report as defamatory. In explaining how her firm was chosen to represent the sport's supreme body, she said FIFA reached out to them.
"We just received a call and asked if we could handle the matter. How these things work is that normally people refer you, they check on you, they google you to see if you are competent and if you are their person, but more often we send our CV up and they would ask a few people, and we came on board. I don't know how they heard of us, we don't know."
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Defamatory? Please relax.
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Defamatory? Please relax.
Ent. Maybe they consider themselves ‘Lamborghini‘., thru the FIFA / Concacaf Italian connects nah.
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Look Loy explains TTFA defiance: why teach the youth ‘hypocrisy, cowardice and self-interest’?.
Wired868.com
“[…] Some opposed to our resistance to Fifa talk about our supposed endangerment of ‘the youth’. But, in effect, their moaning merely teaches youth, by example, the abandonment of democracy, principle, justice, and fair play, for the prevalent values of our national intellectual and spiritual life: hypocrisy, cowardice, self interest, and convenience. It sickens me to my stomach.
“[…] It is a rich irony that the powers that be in Zurich—those who pretend to preach to us of ‘good governance’—are today embroiled in another tragicomedy of their own making, regarding illegal meetings with the Swiss attorney general and the perversion of the course of Swiss justice in cases involving Fifa. The world is not as blind as some of us here are…”
The following letter to the editor on United TTFA’s defiance of a Fifa order to implement a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago, was submitted by TTFA Technical Committee chairman and Board member, Keith Look Loy:
“This is a matter of principle—not a matter of getting banned or not getting banned. Everybody in the world has a right to seek justice. If that is not the case, then something is wrong somewhere.”
These words from Mr Osmond Downer crystallise the central idea that has propelled United TTFA’s rejection of FIFA’s illegal attempt to remove the democratically elected leadership of the Association.
There are sacrosanct principles involved here—not the least of which are national sovereignty and democracy.
Some opposed to our resistance to Fifa talk about our supposed endangerment of ‘the youth’. But, in effect, their moaning merely teaches youth, by example, the abandonment of democracy, principle, justice, and fair play, for the prevalent values of our national intellectual and spiritual life: hypocrisy, cowardice, self interest, and convenience. It sickens me to my stomach.
The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, Brian Lewis, has given immaculate focus to the other critical point in all of this—Fifa’s brutal abandonment of all norms of civilised judicial process and justice. And I quote him:
“Fifa has the power, by virtue of their statues, to appoint a normalisation committee. The exercise of that right can’t be unfettered. It’s not a right to act in an arbitrary, illogical manner devoid of equitable treatment, rule of law and principles, without due process and natural justice; or to act unreasonably.”
Lewis is a highly experienced international sport administrator, and he has no dog in the fight. For him to publicly issue such a ringing condemnation of Fifa’s behaviour is remarkable, and is an indictment of Zurich’s barbaric handling of the TTFA.
There is no rational explanation of this behaviour to be found in Fifa’s regulations. There is no explanation other than that advanced by United TTFA—that is, Fifa is seeking the overthrow of a legitimate TTFA administration in order to protect its guilt by complicity for consistently turning a blind eye and ear to the malpractice of former president David John-Williams and his cohorts.
I refer explicitly to the continued issuance of ‘bounced’ cheques, to the failure to pay millions in statutory deductions from employee salaries to state authorities, and to the financial imbroglio that is the Home of Football, which is two million in debt (as exposed by Mark Bassant of the Guardian Media), and on which almost TT$16 million was spent without contracts, purportedly in cash. Fifa has to cover this up.
It is a rich irony that the powers that be in Zurich—those who pretend to preach to us of ‘good governance’—are today embroiled in another tragicomedy of their own making, regarding illegal meetings with the Swiss attorney general and the perversion of the course of Swiss justice in cases involving Fifa.
The world is not as blind as some of us here are.
Mr Downer makes the valid point that Fifa’s so-called normalisation committee order seeks to remove only the democratically elected officers and not the TTFA Board and committee officials. I have known this all along but elected to await the judicial disposition of the case before making a decision on how I, personally, will proceed.
That is to say, if the democratically elected officers, the William Wallace-led administration, are triumphant, I will surely re-engage.
If they are not and Fifa prevails, I do not see myself working with the so-called normalisation committee as a committee chairman, quite frankly. I will not collaborate with usurpers of legitimate authority. I would also have to make a decision on my board membership, in which I would involve the Super League clubs I represent.
In the interim, team staff with whom I worked closely as technical committee chairman are reporting to me the fact that Dion La Foucade is approaching them with demands that way exceed his contracted portfolio as technical director.
Both nature and arbitrary arrangements like Fifa’s so-called normalisation committee abhor a vacuum, I suppose. So the good gentleman is filling the gap. My big regret though, is that Fifa’s mad cap scheme has arrested the significant and successful initiatives we had undertaken, in less than four months, to structure TTFA’s technical work in both development and competitions.
Now we hear of job cuts and salary reductions among staff appointed by the Wallace-led board, as the so called normalisation committee looks to apply its ‘business model’—despite the fact that the 2020 Fifa funding due by right to the TTFA will easily cover the cost of staff.
“Football should never be the accomplice of dictators.”
These words of Eric Cantona, from his television series ‘Football Rebels’, ring true, always, and should guide all of us.
What Fifa, and its local accomplices and supporters high and low, are attempting to do, is to kill democracy and to replace it with a cynical caricature of itself, which it will proclaim to be democratic and progressive. We would inhabit a poorer football world and a poorer nation if that goes unchallenged and succeeds.
We are a free and sovereign nation, and we are, each of us, born under a Godly injunction to resist injustice. And this little Trinidad and Tobago will stand against the Fifa Goliath in front of the entire world.
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Let’s talk: Wallace’s team proposes bilateral discussion with FIFA
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
The “United TTFA” group yesterday sent correspondence to FIFA’S local representative attorney, Donna Denbow, seeking bilateral talks as a solution to its impending legal battle with football’s world governing body in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court.
Under the “United TTFA” banner, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents have made a claim against FIFA, challenging the decision of the world body to replace them on March 17, when imposing its own normalisation committee to run local football.
With preliminary court action having already begun, United TTFA is arguing that the best solution to the TTFA-FIFA impasse is to be found in direct bilateral talks between the parties, thus avoiding a lengthy and costly legal proceeding. Representing United TTFA is the New City Chambers law firm, while the firm of Dr Claude Denbow SC is representing FIFA.
Yesterday, New City Chambers attorney Jason Jones wrote Denbow offering a mediated solution.
“While our client maintains its position in respect of the merits of its case, there is no escaping the fact that a working relationship between our respective clients is essential for the good of football in Trinidad and Tobago,” Jones said in his correspondence.
“I trust that good sense will prevail, and your client will now agree to meet our client at the negotiating table in the interest of and for the good of the sport.”
If FIFA fails to again respond to yesterday’s offer, United TTFA says it will vigorously pursue its T&T High Court claim.
“Given the urgent nature of the matter at hand, I would be grateful if you would be kind enough to indicate your client’s position on mediation by or before 2 pm on Friday 29th May 2020,” Jones wrote.
Yesterday’s letter to Denbow represents the third time United TTFA has formally approached FIFA proposing dialogue.
Attorney Jones wrote: “Our client’s president, Mr William Wallace, has repeatedly called upon your client to discuss the way forward with himself and his executive; but calls have thus gone unanswered.”
Wallace first wrote to FIFA president Gianni Infantino on March 24, a week after the world body announced its takeover of local football. Pleading his case that the TTFA’s $50m debt was historic and not of his three-month old executive’s making, Wallace asked two questions:“If specialist persons have to be sent, why can’t they work with the elected executive? Why is there a need for new elections if the elections held in November was free and fair?” he asked.
Replying three days later on March 27, FIFA’s Senegal-born general secretary Fatma Samoura dismissed the suggestion of mediation.
“While we understand that as the newly elected president you disagree with the FIFA Council Bureau’s decision to appoint a normalisation committee in the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, let me highlight that FIFA is competent to replace executive bodies of member associations by a normalisation committee for a specific period under exceptional circumstances (Art. 8 2 FIFA Statutes),” Samoura noted.
Samoura said based on its own assessment and in collaboration with Concacaf, FIFA considered the situation as exceptional enough to justify an application of the provisions of article. 8.2 of the FIFA statutes.
“FIFA will therefore not enter into any kind of unofficial correspondence of negotiation with you on the specific reasons for its decisions and reserves its arguments and evidences for any possible official legal action related to this matter,” Samoura said.
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Samoura said based on its own assessment and in collaboration with Concacaf, FIFA considered the situation as exceptional enough to justify an application of the provisions of article. 8.2 of the FIFA statutes.
“FIFA will therefore not enter into any kind of unofficial correspondence of negotiation with you on the specific reasons for its decisions and reserves its arguments and evidences for any possible official legal action related to this matter,” Samoura said.
This sounds like grasping for straws- If you have a strong case, why pursue any type of agreement? What puzzles me is " FIFA 's assessment and collaboration with CONCACAF" !! What assessment? When was the assessment done? What was the assessment based on? Who in Concacsf was consulted and collaborated with for this decision?
This proves raises some doubts for me on both sides- and it also shows the heavy handed governance of FIFA governing with " just cause"
Could countries break away form another global body and play football - and say fck FIFA
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Wallace has a very thick skull, this is the third time he’s reaching out to fifa and I’m guessing that fifa will not respond.....again. come on wallace it’s either you’re in or you’re out, what’s with all the procrastination?
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Wallace has a very thick skull, this is the third time he’s reaching out to fifa and I’m guessing that fifa will not respond.....again. come on wallace it’s either you’re in or you’re out, what’s with all the procrastination?
Although I understand the rationale and objective, I agree with you on this. It's a bit much. It's somewhat akin to President Obama attempting to reach across the aisle despite appreciating the influence of a block of intransigent Republicans. If asked to revisit those decisions, his approach would be different.
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I can see both sides of the issue. He is making plain for everyone to see that he has made attempts to negotiate with FiFa(who I think are the thick-skulled ones). If FiFa refuse this time go to the TT High court. F--K fifa!!!!! Someone asked what we should with fifa, I responded "blow them up". I stand by what I said.
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TTFA wants to settle FIFA dispute by mediation.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
THE former TT Football Association (TTFA) executive, led by ousted president William Wallace, is hoping to settle their dispute with FIFA out of court, suggesting the matter be resolved through mediation.
TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle, in a letter on Monday addressed to head of litigation at FIFA Miguel Lietard Fernandez Palacios, wrote, “Since your having been served, it was brought to my client’s attention from a report in the public press that FIFA may be willing to consider the possibility of a mediated settlement in the matter. This would appear to be in response to the suggestion by my co-counsel to the effect that as a matter of principle a mediated response is always to (be) encouraged in such disputes, so as to best preserve the long-term relationship of the parties.”
The former T&T executive is fighting FIFA on its decision to disband the group, claiming FIFA has no right to interfere with a democratically-elected local body. The TTFA is being represented by Gayle, Dr Emir Crowne, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul.
On May 18, the former TTFA executive decided to take the matter against FIFA to the T&T High Court instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The TTFA felt they would not get a fair hearing at CAS.
Wallace and his team served claim documents to FIFA to indicate whether they want to defend themselves. The TTFA gave FIFA eight days, starting May 19, to respond.
FIFA responded saying they intended to defend it. Dr Claude Denbow SC and junior counsel Jerome Rajcoomar will be representing FIFA after filing their entry of appearance in the High Court on Tuesday.
The Wallace-led executive was removed from office by FIFA on March 17 after less than four months in the job.
The former executive was replaced by a normalisation committee led by local businessman Robert Hadad. The committee was formed to run the affairs of local football, including getting rid of the $50 million debt facing the local football body.
In his letter, Gayle also referred to the situation where FIFA agreed to help the Zimbabwean Football Association (ZIFA) clear its hefty debt. Gayle is hopeful that FIFA may be more willing to find an amicable resolution with the TTFA like what FIFA did with Zimbabwe.
“The ongoing dispute between the TTFA and FIFA will only have a deleterious effect on the sport which serves no proper purpose. That being said, the approach recently adopted by FIFA in respect of the Zimbabwean governing body of football does seem to suggest a more sensitive approach to FIFA’s duties towards national bodies.”
The Herald newspaper in Zimbabwe, on Saturday, reported that FIFA would “bail out” ZIFA of its US$10 million debt.
Gayle said they can take their request of mediation to the court.
“Furthermore, in default, of the parties having made considerable progress in these without prejudice discussions by the date for filing your defence, my client will be seeking an expedited trial of the matter.”
Jones, in a follow-up, sent a letter on Thursday to Donna Denbow of the Law Offices of Dr Claude Denbow SC, reiterating what was said by Gayle to FIFA.
The TTFA lawyers are hoping for a response to their request for mediation by 2 pm, on Friday.
RELATED NEWS
Wallace reaches out to Fifa for mediation for the third time, letter sent to Denbow
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Besieged Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace made his third approach to Fifa today requesting mediation, via the world governing body’s local firm the Law Offices of Dr Claude Denbow SC, as the elected officers try to stave off their attempted removal.
The Fifa Bureau of the Council, headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, declared that Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were removed immediately on 17 March after just four months in office, due to serious financial issues at the local football body.
Wallace subsequently wrote to Infantino on 24 March and Fifa’s head of litigation, Miguel Palacios, on 25 May requesting dialogue and stressing that TTFA officials are happy to work with Fifa and Concacaf to address the relevant concerns. Neither letter bore fruit.
At present, the two bodies are set to fight in the High Court where the TTFA filed an injunction to block Fifa and its normalisation committee from interfering in its operations. Fifa, through the Law Offices of Dr Claude Denbow SC, are expected to counter that the case should be fought at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to an arbitration clause in the constitution of both parties.
Attorney Jerome Rajcoomar, who is representing Fifa in the High Court alongside Dr Claude Denbow and Donna Denbow, declined comment on the matter.
Wallace, who is represented legally by Matthew Gayle, Dr Emir Crowne and Crystal Paul, made it clear that they would prefer an amicable settlement out of court.
“While our client maintains its position in respect of the merits of its case, there is no escaping the fact that a working relationship between our respective clients is essential for the good of football in Trinidad and Tobago,” stated Gayle, in an email to Mrs Denbow this morning. “Mr Wallace has repeatedly called upon [Fifa] to discuss the way forward with himself and his executive; but these calls have thus far gone unanswered.
“I trust that good sense will prevail and your client will now agree to meet our client at the negotiating table in the interest of and for the good of the sport. This approach, as I understand it, is in keeping with the spirit of Part 1.1, ‘The Overriding Objective of the Civil Proceedings Rule’.
“To this end, our client is optimistic that progress may be made towards a resolution of the issues promptly and without the need for further costs to be incurred by either of the parties to the instant matter.”
Wallace and his vice-presidents gave Fifa a deadline of 2pm on Friday to respond. Thus far, Infantino and Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura have been unwilling to engage.
On 24 March, Wallace wrote to Infantino and, after enquiring about his health and the wellbeing of his family, ‘humbly’ sought dialogue of the Fifa Bureau decision that he described as: ‘a bit premature and unjustifiable’.
Again, the TTFA president hinted at the controversial real estate deal involving the Arima Velodrome as its ace to address the local body’s debt.
“Discussions commenced with the stakeholders which include arms of the government,” stated Wallace, “and even though this arrangement has prematurely [been put] in the media domain our foreign partners are still behind us. There were plans by our partners to visit Trinidad and Tobago in mid April to formally continue the conversation, of course based on Covid-19 this is not possible.
“They are however, preparing the necessary documents to send to us over the next couple days so that the conversation can continue. We humbly think this should have been given a chance to materialise because regardless of who is responsible for football in Trinidad and Tobago, progress would be impeded once this debt exists.”
More to the point, Wallace stressed that if Infantino wants to improve the governance structure at the TTFA, he would be pushing against an open door.
“If specialist persons have to be sent, why can’t they work with the elected executive?” asked Wallace. “Why is there a need for new elections if the elections held in November was free and fair? To the above questions I have no answers and because of the lack of clarity speculation is rife.
“My executive is willing to work with Fifa and Concacaf and hope that together we can have some dialogue on these issues and others and move forward for the good of the game in Trinidad and Tobago and the region.
“Many theories are been put forward as expected but once we can arrive at an amicable solution those would soon be relegated to the dustbin of history… We prefer that dialogue can commence and thus replace our legal action.”
Infantino never responded although, three days later, Samoura did on his behalf.
“While we understand that as the newly elected president, you disagree with the Fifa Council Bureau’s decision to appoint a normalisation committee in the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association,” stated Samoura, “let me highlight that Fifa is competent to replace executive bodies of member associations by a normalisation committee for a specific period under exceptional circumstances.
“Furthermore Fifa can, based on its own assessment and in collaboration with the relevant confederation, consider the situation as exceptional enough to justify an application of this provision.
“Fifa will therefore not enter into any kind of unofficial correspondence of negotiation with you on the specific reasons for its decision and reserves its arguments and evidences for any possible official legal action related to this matter.”
On 25 May, Gayle reached out to Fifa’s head of litigation on Wallace’s behalf and pointed to media reports that suggested the world governing body was set to help address the Zimbabwe FA’s US$10 million debt.
“The ongoing dispute between the TTFA and Fifa will only have a deleterious effect on the sport which serves no proper purpose,” stated Gayle. “That being said, the approach recently adopted by Fifa in respect of the Zimbabwean governing body of football does seem to suggest a more sensitive approach to Fifa’s duties towards national bodies.
“To be clear, the board of the [TTFA] have readily admitted that the claimant is in dire financial straits. This in large part, if not entirely, was due to the actions for the immediate past executive.
“[…] My client has instructed that I write to you to respectfully request you agree to an all parties conference to discuss on a without prejudice basis the matters between the parties, in a hope for amicable resolution…”
Fifa never responded.
Today, Wallace and his vice-presidents tried again through Fifa’s latest counsel.
The United TTFA, which includes the TTFA’s elected officers as well as North Zone president Anthony Harford and Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) president Keith Look Loy, said it prefers ‘direct bilateral talks between the parties’ and stressed that it views the courtroom as only a last resort.
“United TTFA states clearly that its three proposals for talks are intended to amicably resolve the issue at hand,” stated a release from the group today. “These [approaches] are made without prejudice to its High Court claim, which it will vigorously pursue if Fifa fails to respond, yet again, to today’s offer.”
Don’t write us! Fifa snubs mediation request, Wallace still hopeful but makes fighting case.
Wired868.com.
On Monday, attorney Matthew Gayle wrote to Fifa and requested mediation on behalf of his clients, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, as an alternative to a High Court battle.
The TTFA’s request, which had a deadline of 2pm today, was despatched to Fifa before the Law Office of Dr Claude Denbow announced that it was representing the world governing body in the matter; and Gayle subsequently repeated the offer to the local firm.
Today, Emily Devlin, senior legal counsel for Fifa’s Legal and Compliance department, responded. And the message was, essentially, the time for talk has passed:
“I refer to your letter of 25 May 2020. Fifa has instructed Dr Claude H Denbow SC to act for it in relation to the above claim. All correspondence should be sent to Dr Denbow.”
Thus far, the Denbow firm has said even less. Up until this evening, four hours after the TTFA’s deadline, the legal team of Dr Claude Denbow SC, Donna Denbow and Jerome Rajcoomar had not even acknowledged the request—according to the local football body—let alone replied to it.
Rajcoomar told Wired868 that he had no comment on the matter.
Two months after Fifa’s attempt to remove the TTFA’s elected officers—just four months into their four year term—neither the world governing body’s president Gianni Infantino nor secretary general Fatma Samoura have shared the report from the ‘fact-finding mission’ that supposedly provoked their actions, or explained why they did not try to work with Wallace before pointing him to the door.
Wallace said Fifa officials have been nothing but consistent since the Fifa Bureau of the Council appointed a normalisation committee to run its affairs in Trinidad and Tobago on 17 March.
“Well, we await Denbow’s response now,” Wallace told Wired868. “It is unfortunate and probably consistent with how we were treated from day one. I, as president, am a member of Fifa and [think of it] like we are in a family; I would think if there was an issue there must be some sort of dialogue.
“Instead, they just sent in a normalisation committee. Something is not right there and it goes against everything that natural justice represents. We never got a chance to discuss anything, including our suggestions for dealing with the debt—nothing!”
Wallace, who is also the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president, said he is aware that some local stakeholders are concerned about the potential ramifications of the TTFA’s fight with Fifa. And he suggested there are also persons who are trying to capitalise on this unease for their own political agendas.
“Everybody will have different perspectives but what is important is my vice presidents and myself are looking through the same lens,” he said, “and we are fighting something that we think is totally unjust—it is almost disrespectful. For me, this is a fight that is necessary and if at the end of the day we lose in the courts, then I will respect that and move on with my life.
“For all the people who say we are affecting the youths, for the last four years we were going backwards and teams were being disbanded or not being treated as they should and nobody said anything. [A Fifa suspension] is something that might happen; but the last four years actually happened and yet no one was talking out.
“We are prepared to live or die by our decision.”
Once more, Wallace suggested that the TTFA’s elected officials have the moral high ground and tried to frame the battle as such.
“We are fighting for justice and fair play and the future of our football,” said the besieged administrator. “The game is supposed to teach our young men and women lessons on and off the field of play, and definitely this is a lesson off the field of play that I think is extremely important for them to learn.”
Despite the consistency of Fifa’s cold message to local football officials, Wallace said he still has not given up hope for an amicable settlement.
“I am still optimistic that, even in their last correspondence, they said to contact their lawyer and perhaps that avenue might give us an opportunity to be heard,” he said. “Although I am disappointed with their response, I am still optimistic that we can get a positive response out of the Fifa.”
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Nothing doing: FIFA does not acknowledge United TTFA’s mediation offer
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
Football’s governing body FIFA turned down another offer by former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association executives to have mediated discussions as a solution to an impasse between the two bodies, which is headed to the local courts.
Under the “United TTFA” banner, TTFA president William Wallace and his three vice presidents have made a claim against FIFA in the T&T high court, challenging the decision of the world body to replace them on March 17, when imposing its own normalisation committee to run local football.
On Thursday, one of Wallace’s representatives, attorney Jason Jones, wrote FIFA’S local representative Donna Denbow on behalf of United TTFA, offering a mediated solution.
The “United TTFA” group had requested that Denbow give an indication by 2 p.m. yesterday as to whether FIFA was favourable to their request. Denbow has not responded.
“No, no, no response whatsoever,” stated attorney Matthew Gayle, advocate attorney for United TTFA.
“Not even an acknowledgement,” Gayle added. Previous to Jones’ correspondence to Denbow, his colleague Gayle had also written FIFA seeking bilateral talks. “The response to my letter, basically, was, ‘we have retained attorneys, contact them’,” said Gayle.
Jones’ letter to Denbow represents the fourth time United TTFA has formally approached FIFA, proposing dialogue. Gayle said United TTFA will now vigorously pursue its T&T High Court claim.
“In the interest of football, we were hoping we could reach out and have some discussions,” said Gayle. “Our client would be obviously disappointed that the end of the day has come and we have not even had an acknowledgement.
“My perspective is that it never hurts to talk. But to talk, you must have two willing parties,” Gayle declared.
“Our instructions are to progress with the claim in the normal way. That’s where we are. We are pushing forward with the claim.”
Denbow’s lack of response is the latest in a series of slights to the former TTFA executives from the world body, FIFA.
On Thursday, attorney Jones wrote: “Our client’s president, Mr William Wallace, has repeatedly called upon your client to discuss the way forward with himself and his executive; but calls have thus gone unanswered.”
Wallace first wrote to FIFA president Gianni Infantino on March 24, a week after the world body announced its takeover of local football. Pleading his case that the TTFA’s $50m debt was historic and not of his three-month old executive’s making, Wallace asked two important questions: “If specialist persons have to be sent, why can’t they work with the elected executive? Why is there a need for new elections if the elections held in November was free and fair?” he asked.
The response from FIFA through general secretary Fatma Samoura was that there would be no negotiations.
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FIFA relies on insulation from state laws.
By Gyasi Merrique (Guardian).
Not very often has public legal order been able to force FIFA to submit to the rule of state law. In fact, throughout its 116-year existence football’s world governing body has meticulously designed its legal framework to insulate itself as much as possible from the state laws of its various member associations as well as larger supra-national institutions such as the European Union and others like it.
Except for some historic and landmark cases such as the Bosman ruling of 1995 and indeed FIFAgate, FIFA has largely been untouchable when it comes to public or state legal order intervening in the general order by which FIFA governs football and governs itself.
In the case of the Bosman ruling, which can be likened to an industrial relations matter with far-reaching implications for the game at every level, the European Court of Justice’s judgment banned restrictions of movement on EU players allowing those who were at the end of their contracts to move from one club to another for no transfer fee. It consolidated three earlier decisions in favour of Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman against the Belgian Football Association, Royal Football Club de Liege as well as UEFA.
Meanwhile, in 2015, United States prosecutors began proceedings into allegations of corruption and collusion between several football officials and executives of sports marketing companies.
More than 10 FIFA officials have been charged, indicted, and pleaded guilty on multiple counts of fraud, money laundering, and bribery. All of those officials faced simultaneous bans by FIFA from participating in football-related activities.
FIFA itself has not faced any sanctions and has gone about its business of "reform" within the walls of the organization and most importantly, out of the reach of the public legal order.
Several academic examinations of FIFA’s private legal governance structure as well as its increased economic clout over time, seem to suggest that any attempt to drag football’s global governing body over into public or state legislative order is futile, to put things mildly. In fact, according to a case study on FIFA’s private legal order published in 2018 - Private order building: the state in the role of the civil society and the case of FIFA - often public legal order acts as an enabler of sorts.
One excerpt reads, “…not all the credit behind the expansion of FIFA’s private order goes to FIFA alone. Public orders, such as the sovereign jurisdictions of FIFA’s member associations and supranational organizations like the European Union (EU), influence the evolution of the order.”
The study contends that regulatory autonomy granted to FIFA and private institutions like it, through the historical and traditional reluctance of states to trespass FIFA’s governance - from its control over tournament schedules, its commercial enterprise and setting of its own financial and political framework - has largely enabled the body to evolve into the self-governing juggernaut that we know today.
This idea speaks volumes given FIFA’s establishment of its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, a country that has also traditionally avoided the intervention in the affairs of private entities residing within its borders.
Moreover, this is precisely the assertion being made by the United TTFA – a body within Trinidad and Tobago made up primarily of the duly elected TTFA officers at last November’s Annual General Meeting that has since been removed from office by FIFA.
Led by the TTFA’s elected president William Wallace, vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip, and Susan Joseph-Warrick as well as a couple of other local administrators, United TTFA has challenged FIFA’s appointment of a normalization committee to steer T&T football for a maximum period of 24 months. Having been disbanded less than four months after being constitutionally elected and within weeks of reportedly alerting FIFA to alarming financial malpractice of the previous administrations, Wallace and company have sought to challenge FIFA’s legal dominion by filing a matter at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
It has since withdrawn that case at CAS, FIFA’s prescribed arbitration body, choosing instead to file its matter with the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago. Upon withdrawal, United TTFA said: “It became clear that CAS was prepared to ignore its regulations to facilitate FIFA in its handling of TTFA vs FIFA.” It claimed that after CAS asked it to pay the entire cost ($40,000 Swiss Frances or TT$277,000) of proceedings upfront, contrary to normal practice, United TTFA had “serious doubts" about being afforded a fair hearing.
United TTFA is now leaning on the High Court of T&T in a bid for the state’s legal system to 1. Declare FIFA’s set up of the normalization committee, on March 17, 2020, null and void 2. Grant a permanent injunction preventing FIFA from interfering or overriding the outcome of the democratic process 3. Grant a permanent injunction to prevent the FIFA from interfering in the day-to-day management of the TTFA including use of its bank accounts and property.
This unprecedented challenge can certainly be lauded on principle even if the anticipated consequences, which we will also explore, can be potentially damaging for the local administration of football.
Branislav Hock, one of the contributing researchers on the 2018 publication as well as another published in the Yale Journal of International Law titled, Between the Green Pitch and the Red Tape: The Private Legal Order of FIFA has found the entire scenario and posturing of both parties interesting.
Hock says, “What this case shows in Trinidad and Tobago, at least from the limited knowledge that I have about the case, is that under FIFA statutes if you want to be a member you need to follow the rules, as long as these rules are in compliance with some basic fundamental rights and if they are in essence acceptable for society at large.”
However, United TTFA continues to use its defence, the TTFA's establishment by an act of parliament in 1982. Hock, Senior Lecturer of Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, who has studied extensively, the relationship between public and private legal orders as well as the advantages and disadvantages of both, says “It's a part legal question, a part political question.”
He added “FIFA’s legal order, except perhaps in the Bosman case when the FIFA legal order indeed was challenged by the state laws, has been able to resist any major interference of the public orders. You can go to the national court and say maybe you can go against the association (FIFA) at the national stage but the question is whether you have enough power and means to harm the association.
"Ultimately, you can win the dispute in the national court but the association can say you don’t have to be in our association if you don’t want to follow these rules. It's ok that you are established based on the law of Trinidad and Tobago but you are a member of our association based on the statutes of FIFA.”
The High Court of T&T is essentially being asked to deliberate whether Article 8.2 of FIFA's statutes can be applied to the TTFA. It allows FIFA to disband the Executive bodies of member associations "under exceptional circumstances by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalization committee."
However, according to the TTFA constitution, only article 38 speaks to the dismissal of a person or a member and specifies that dismissal can only be carried out at the General Meeting with the person in question being allowed to defend against any such motion.
Hock says, “It's not one or the other, definitely both apply but they apply in different contexts and for different reasons."
He adds that beyond the issue of whether or not FIFA’s intervention in the affairs of Trinidad and Tobago football was justified or not, the TTFA’s challenge can have a deeper interpretation as it relates to the umbrella body’s execution of power.
Hock said, “FIFA is able to design specific rules that benefit actors within football. These are not some default employment rules for example. These are rules that fit the purpose. If a player goes to court and gets some temporary ban from going to work, playing – their career might be over. That’s why we need a swift dispute resolution system. So there are many advantages to this private order.”
“But generally, the rule is to leave these private orders alone if they are legitimate. They will probably do many good things. But what we need to discuss is 'When the state or public order should intervene? When should they step in and fix something? And why the public order should know better than the private order.'
FIFA has retained the services of Trinidad and Tobago based law firm of Dr. Claude Denbow SC and the matter will be brought up in the T&T High Court is expected to be heard on June 16, 2020. It has also refused to accept an olive branch extended by the United TTFA offering to take the matter to mediation.
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All I could make of this is that fifa is adamant about removing this bunch, and they would stop at nothing to get it done, and I could only hope wallace has a ace up his sleeve, because if not then he is threading on thin ice with absolutely no visible means of support anywhere.
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The fat boss and his stooges must be smiling from ear to ear making plans for his return, i only hope they're familiar with the saying “who laughs last”.... well you all know the rest.
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Ferguson: Football faces emotional effects from FIFA fight
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
The country stands to face severe emotional effects from an equally emotional action by the United T&T Football Association (TTFA), Richard Ferguson, the owner and manager of T&T Pro League campaigners Terminix La Horquetta Rangers has said.
Ferguson, a beaten presidential candidate at the TTFA elections in November last year, said there seems to be an absence of logic by the United TTFA’s team of William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick and their supporting cast in its fight to retain the right to be managers of local football, a right they feel was taken away when the sport’s world governing body- FIFA, appointed a Normalisation Committee to govern the affairs of the sport on March 17.
Since then the ousted TTFA executive has taken its fight to overturn that decision through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), and now to the High Court in Port-of-Spain, which contravenes a direct violation of the FIFA Statutes that puts the twin-island Republic in line to be banned.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports on Friday Ferguson said: “We have to sit down and think carefully about what we are doing, things don’t seem to be operating logically in that situation, people need to calm down, they need to be unemotional and they need to work out if what they are doing makes sense or not.
“The more people sit down and watch this thing objectively, it is not making sense. Really and truly, football belongs to the FIFA, it does not belong to T&T, it does not belong to TTFA, it does not belong to the government, it belongs to the FIFA. The FIFA runs the game because you’re playing in FIFA tournaments so you really and truly have to humble yourself and follow the rules of the FIFA.”
The man, who has made a huge impact on local football with his Ascension Invitational Football League last year, said he likens the decision by the United TTFA to a player who has gotten a red card for something he may have been innocent about, noting, although you may not like the red card, you have to humble yourself and come off the field.
FIFA’s red card which ousted the United TTFA executive from office follows a visit by a team from the CONCACAF and FIFA in February to find out about the issues plaguing the embattled football association, such as a FIFA stated debt of TT37.4 million, as well as ways to fix them.
According to Ferguson, a lot of the decision-making had to deal with emotions and that decisions cannot be made when one is emotional. He noted that the country stands to lose big time in finances and emotionally.
“I hope that FIFA does not punish the entire country because of a few gentlemen break FIFA rules and I hope that good sense will prevail.
“Whilst there are some financial costs involved, I believe the emotional effect will be a lot worst. Football in T&T is the most popular sport and it influences the lives and cultures of the people in T&T and should T&T be banned from playing international football, it will have a huge emotional effect and you cannot quantify that. It is not only embarrassing but it’s also emotionally terrorising,” Ferguson said.
The latest round in the football saga sees the TTFA extending its arms for mediation talks with the FIFA legal team.
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Football doesn't belong to the people... well yes!
The land don't belong to the people. The slave masters own it. So if you watch it good, this slave rebellion not making sense. :banginghead:
f**k outta here Ferguson
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Neo colonialism
Explain Zimbabwe Ferguson? Where they find this plantation owner to speak?
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Football doesn't belong to the people... well yes!
The land don't belong to the people. The slave masters own it. So if you watch it good, this slave rebellion not making sense. :banginghead:
f**k outta here Ferguson
i totally agree with you, but I think it’s time for wallace to throw in the towel and realize that he’s licked. the fact that fifa has not responded to him after his 4th attempt to broker a truce is evidence enough that this is a coup d’ etat, and they would rest at nothing until they get their way.
I think mr wallace should resort to a plan “b“ by establishing a rapport with the football stake holders while pushing a comprehensive move against DJW by exposing his corrupt practices, and having him audited by the state, who know’s, maybe they might uncover more than they should.
but to continue with this evident fleeting endeavor will not help his cause especially in the local court which could spell trouble even if he won, where he and his executives could face life time bans together with the federation and I think that is exactly what fifa is hoping for, come on william wallace use your head man and live to fight another day.
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Things are no where close to being apocalyptic. Fly the flag high. Fly it proudly and let the the process unfold.
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Soca Warriors...... :devil:
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Things are no where close to being apocalyptic. Fly the flag high. Fly it proudly and let the the process unfold.
Amen!!!
I think those men missing the point.
Accepting ANY less than non-interference with our autonomous body TTFA is akin to accepting another man coming into your house and ravaging your wife and kids and you saying well the man was bigger than me, I cyar win.
I can't believe Soooo many people willing to accept this nonsense like it's nothing! Whey Sah
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I can't believe Soooo many people willing to accept this nonsense like it's nothing! Whey Sah
Better belief it!!!
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Right is wrong, wrong is right in FIFA debacle
By Astil Renn Cumoto (T&T Express)
A friend once told me we live in a world where right is called wrong and wrong labelled right. No truer words especially when one looks at the present scenario involving the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association and FIFA, the world governing body for the sport of football.
Just to go back a little, William Wallace and his executive were democratically elected into office last November to run the affairs of local football for the next four years. Wallace headed his slate and was also elected president. That was the easy part...or so they thought.
Four months later, Wallace and his executive are in a battle of survival with the world body for the sport. The duly elected executive headed by William Wallace was removed by FIFA and replaced by normalisation committee.
For redress, the TTFA sought out the international court of arbitration for sport. This proved not to be in the best interest of the TTFA. The next move for Wallace and his executive was the high courts in the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago in which a Football Association was established through an act of Parliament.
What is somewhat difficult for me to come to terms with is the non support of Concacaf, the Caribbean Football Union and former national players at home.
In some quarters, there is a call for Wallace and company to throw in the towel. Don’t take on the world governing body for the sport. Some are even saying Wallace must see Trinidad and Tobago football as the bigger picture if there is to be a revival of the game locally. But, I recall former world champion Claude Noel taking the World Boxing Association to court for the right to have his title shot which won this country’s first world title.
But, back to Wallace and his executive. They did it the right way to get into office but, it appears to me by the treatment they have received they went about it the wrong way.
What are the lessons William Wallace a school teacher by profession learned from this experience? Right is wrong and wrong is right.
My heart bleeds for William Wallace and his executive. My advice to him is to stay strong, don’t be bitter after this ordeal but come out better than you entered. I salute you and the men who stand with you in this courageous fight.
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TTFA coaches to approach PM Rowley for help
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Fed up they have not been paid for the past three months (March, April and May) of 2020, the coaches of the T&T Football Association have agreed to approach Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to assist them in getting the salaries owed to them.
They are complaining that Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee and members deputy chairman Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano have been silent on the matter.
Guardian Media Sports reached out to chairman Hadad via WhatsApp on Monday but messages to his cellphone went unanswered.
The coaches, who withheld their names for fear of victimisation, said they are fed up of not being paid, particularly amid a pandemic, although the FIFA has made available a Pandemic Relief Fund, in addition to football grants to its Member Associations, however, no monies have been paid to the TTFA to date.
In an interview on Monday the coaches said: "By this week we intend to reach out to the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to discuss unemployment relief funds given out, but nothing concerning the coaches. At the end of the day, we are humans too. You gave maxis, you gave the hotels in Tobago, you have everything in place, but at the end of the day we are humans too."
They added: "We can't go to NIS (National Insurance) to discuss the grant because we have not paid NIS, so we are nobody then?"
Hadad appears to have his hands tied in a battle to gain full control of the embattled football association from former TTFA president William Wallace and the rest of his executive team of vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick, all of whom are battling the sport's world governing body- FIFA, for the right manage the affairs of local football following their election back on November 24, 2019.
The last time the staff of the TTFA was paid, was in February when Ramesh Ramdhan, the football association's General Secretary borrowed money to pay salaries, due to the cash-strapped position of the TTFA.
Since then a garnishee order in February by the former technical director Kendall Walkes had put a freeze on the TTFA bank accounts, a freeze that was removed after Walkes liquidated the accounts months later.
On Monday last, the ousted TTFA members agreed to take their fight to the High Court in Port-of-Spain after removing their challenge against FIFA from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The decision to take their fight to the high court is a direct violation of the FIFA Statutes and the TTFA Constitution and puts the country in a position to be banned.
Three days later on May 28, the TTFA asked the FIFA for mediation which was eventually rejected.
According to the coaches: "We have not heard anything about payment of salary and that is disappointing. Nobody can get on to Hadad, he hasn't been saying anything and he comes to fix the football."
The coaches are also contending that staff members, both the technical and administrative staff, can be paid, despite challenges to secure the use of the TTFA bank accounts. " You can pay the staff. The CFU can pay the staff, the money can come through them (CFU), it can come through CONCACAF or it can come from the FIFA direct, so it comes like they are on games. CONCACAF paid money before, direct to people's accounts," the coaches explained.
The coaches' only point of contact has been Ramesh Ramdhan, the football association's General Secretary, but Guardian Media Sports learnt Ramdhan has had a gag order placed on him.
The technical staff comprises- Terry Fenwick (Men’s Senior Team), Derek King (Men’s Under-20 Team), Angus Eve (Men’s Under-17 Team), Keith Jeffrey (Men’s Under-15 Team), Richard Hood (Women’s Under-20 and Under-17 Teams) and Jason Spence (Women’s Under-15 Team) headed the various technical staffs.
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I can't believe Soooo many people willing to accept this nonsense like it's nothing! Whey Sah
Better belief it!!!
deeks get real! I support going to CAS, I also support going to the high court if there are no repercussions of an impending suspension or ban from football. now please explain to my why mr wallace would want to fight fifa if he has no support, that’s like a vagrant wanting to work for high tech company but he has no qualifications, no place to live and no clothes to wear to work, it’s just crazy.
mr wallace and his executive doesn't even have the financial support to fight their case in the CAS which is the right forum for their complaint, neither does he have the support of any other federations in the region or influential people with money.
in all honesty I am extremely disappointed with these men as to how broke and destitute they, and to make matters worst they want to fight the case in local court which would bring a suspension, and as far as I can see this is exactly where fifa wants us to go so they could get rid of wallace and his executive for good.
have you noticed that fifa don’t want no kind of olive branch with the executive, they don’t want to work with them and they are not cooperating in anyway shape or form, that’s because they want them out of the way, and if wallace and company takes god out their thoughts and go the high court route, fifa will grasp the opportunity to suspend them for sure, and then where does that leave them?
they would not even be able to fight the next election leaving a clear path for DJW to get back in power and ultimately that’s what fifa wants. IMO wallace should either take his row back to CAS or fall back and work behind the scenes to strengthen ties with the football stake holders locally in preparation to contest the next election.
please open your eyes people, why is that so hard to see that he’s heading into a trap set by fat boy and infantino? he’s going exactly where they want him so he could be banned and pushed aside, and then DJW find an easy way to waltz right back in as president. that’s what allyuh calls standing up, I thought war was a strategic endeavor? going to the high court will only get him banned, trust me, and who the he’ll does that help especially when it will be taking us back to square one? think wallace think!
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What part of all this farce is " Normal"? What corrective measures have taken place since the inception of the FIFA normalization committee?
All we have seen are divisive elements and increased fractions among the local and regional football bodies in terms of their allergiencies to the " football gods"
How could the resulting actions thus far be better for TnT football or aspiring players? We have become the laughing stock of the Caribbean and it's time the public demand for the betterment of football in TnT proactive measures that would stabilize the situation rather than having stooges and clowns parading about and braying for some iota of an international e t from the almighty omnipotent football dogs of FIFA.
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I can't believe Soooo many people willing to accept this nonsense like it's nothing! Whey Sah
Better belief it!!!
deeks get real! I support going to CAS, I also support going to the high court if there are no repercussions of an impending suspension or ban from football. now please explain to my why mr wallace would want to fight fifa if he has no support, that’s like a vagrant wanting to work for high tech company but he has no qualifications, no place to live and no clothes to wear to work, it’s just crazy.
mr wallace and his executive doesn't even have the financial support to fight their case in the CAS which is the right forum for their complaint, neither does he have the support of any other federations in the region or influential people with money.
in all honesty I am extremely disappointed with these men as to how broke and destitute they, and to make matters worst they want to fight the case in local court which would bring a suspension, and as far as I can see and this is exactly where fifa wants us to go so they could get rid of wallace and his executive for good.
have you noticed that fifa don’t want no kind of olive branch with the executive, they don’t want to work with them and they are not cooperating in anyway shape or form, and that’s because they want them out of the way, and if wallace and company takes god out their thoughts and go the high court route, fifa will grasp the opportunity to suspend them for sure, and then where does that leave them?
they would not even be able to fight the next election leaving a clear path for DJW to get back in power and ultimately that’s what fifa wants. IMO wallace should either take his row back to CAS or fall back and work behind the scenes to strengthen ties with the football stake holders locally in preparation to contest the next election.
please open your eyes people, why is that so hard to see that he’s heading into a trap set by fat boy and infantino? he’s going exactly where they want him so he could be banned and pushed aside, and then DJW find an easy way to waltz right back in as president. that’s what allyuh calls standing up, I thought war was a strategic endeavor? going to the high court will only get him banned, trust me, and who the he’ll does that help especially when it will be taking us back to square one? think wallace think!
Ok, then let DJW get reelected.
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Let's not reassure t any football executives with the letters JW in it land we talking the rise of local magnate of building an empire through the profits of football
We talking any executive past or present who owns a football team cannot runTTFA for the general good without some self seeking get rich erection of what amounts to bea Taj Mahal - from the centre of excellence to the Home of football - these monuments have co e with a price
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Good one ABTrini
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Romano: Payments after paying mechanism worked out
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Businessman and former banker Nigel Romano, who is a member of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, said his committee has been working on a payment mechanism to ensure that the staff and coaches of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) can be paid.
On Tuesday, Romano, responding to a Guardian Media Sport report on Tuesday where the coaches were seeking to take their plight to the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, said the last thing anyone wants is for money to be sent to the bank and then it cannot be accessed.
The three-member normalisation committee of chairman Robert Hadad, his deputy, attorney Judy Daniel and member Romano, has found itself in a battle for the right to use the football association's bank accounts at First Citizens Bank in Port-of-Spain as the rightful owner.
The then TTFA executive of former president William Wallace and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick were replaced by the normalisation committee on March 27 after the sport's governing body felt the embattled football association faced a real risk of insolvency and illiquidity on March 17.
Since then the ousted TTFA executive has been in a battle to regain control of football governance in T&T, by taking FIFA to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and then to the High Court in Port-of-Spain.
However, both Wallace and Hadad failed to convince the bank that either was the rightful owner of the accounts. The First Citizens legal team of Kendell Alexander from the Johnson, Camacho and Singh law firm, called on both men to walk with a legal document as proof that either is the owner of the accounts. This took place although both men were in pursuit of legal action to prevent the other from claiming the accounts.
Romano stressed that once a paying mechanism is worked out the staff and coaches of the football association, maybe, can get paid before the month (June) is up. He did not reveal how his committee was seeking to work out the payment mechanism but dismissed the thought that FIFA, the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) could provide direct payments to the personal bank accounts of staff members or coaches.
"Once we organise the payment mechanism, then we can pay. We are taking advice on what's the best way because the last thing you will want to do is to have the monies put into a bank account and then you cannot get the money out," Romano said.
"The money still has to come into Trinidad before it can get to their bank account, it cannot go directly to their bank accounts."
Meanwhile, with almost three months gone and nothing concrete to show for their existence, Romano promised his committee will reveal what its plans are to take football forward, saying they did not feel comfortable sharing it at this point.
However, he said his committee has been holding talks with UK sportswear supplier Avec Sports to ensure the country gets value for money.
Romano said, "Avec has been talking to us. Once we get all the legal and appropriate advice we will make a decision to ensure that we get the best value for money."
He promises that his committee will also look at all the other deals secured by the Wallace-led administration to have talks with them.
When contacted, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe, could not respond to concerns by the coaches as she did not see the report. And later, George Elias, Communication personnel for the Prime Minister, said it would be better for the Sports Minister to treat with the matter.
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TTFA coaches to approach PM Rowley for help
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Fed up they have not been paid for the past three months (March, April and May) of 2020, the coaches of the T&T Football Association have agreed to approach Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to assist them in getting the salaries owed to them.
They are complaining that Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee and members deputy chairman Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano have been silent on the matter.
Guardian Media Sports reached out to chairman Hadad via WhatsApp on Monday but messages to his cellphone went unanswered.
The coaches, who withheld their names for fear of victimisation, said they are fed up of not being paid, particularly amid a pandemic, although the FIFA has made available a Pandemic Relief Fund, in addition to football grants to its Member Associations, however, no monies have been paid to the TTFA to date.
In an interview on Monday the coaches said: "By this week we intend to reach out to the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to discuss unemployment relief funds given out, but nothing concerning the coaches. At the end of the day, we are humans too. You gave maxis, you gave the hotels in Tobago, you have everything in place, but at the end of the day we are humans too."
They added: "We can't go to NIS (National Insurance) to discuss the grant because we have not paid NIS, so we are nobody then?"
Hadad appears to have his hands tied in a battle to gain full control of the embattled football association from former TTFA president William Wallace and the rest of his executive team of vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick, all of whom are battling the sport's world governing body- FIFA, for the right manage the affairs of local football following their election back on November 24, 2019.
The last time the staff of the TTFA was paid, was in February when Ramesh Ramdhan, the football association's General Secretary borrowed money to pay salaries, due to the cash-strapped position of the TTFA.
Since then a garnishee order in February by the former technical director Kendall Walkes had put a freeze on the TTFA bank accounts, a freeze that was removed after Walkes liquidated the accounts months later.
On Monday last, the ousted TTFA members agreed to take their fight to the High Court in Port-of-Spain after removing their challenge against FIFA from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The decision to take their fight to the high court is a direct violation of the FIFA Statutes and the TTFA Constitution and puts the country in a position to be banned.
Three days later on May 28, the TTFA asked the FIFA for mediation which was eventually rejected.
According to the coaches: "We have not heard anything about payment of salary and that is disappointing. Nobody can get on to Hadad, he hasn't been saying anything and he comes to fix the football."
The coaches are also contending that staff members, both the technical and administrative staff, can be paid, despite challenges to secure the use of the TTFA bank accounts. " You can pay the staff. The CFU can pay the staff, the money can come through them (CFU), it can come through CONCACAF or it can come from the FIFA direct, so it comes like they are on games. CONCACAF paid money before, direct to people's accounts," the coaches explained.
The coaches' only point of contact has been Ramesh Ramdhan, the football association's General Secretary, but Guardian Media Sports learnt Ramdhan has had a gag order placed on him.
The technical staff comprises- Terry Fenwick (Men’s Senior Team), Derek King (Men’s Under-20 Team), Angus Eve (Men’s Under-17 Team), Keith Jeffrey (Men’s Under-15 Team), Richard Hood (Women’s Under-20 and Under-17 Teams) and Jason Spence (Women’s Under-15 Team) headed the various technical staffs.
Respectfully, what's the PM's role supposed to be in resolving payment? To negotiate? To front the $ until such time as the disbursement is available for redirection to government coffers? To appeal for resolution? What?
Why be concerned about victimisation? Yuh trying to feed yuh family, ent? If yuh standing up, stand up! Doh half step. Seems to me that a letter to Zurich should be where the plea is presented, but I'm betting allyuh don't want to sign that!
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Romano: Payments after paying mechanism worked out
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Businessman and former banker Nigel Romano, who is a member of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, said his committee has been working on a payment mechanism to ensure that the staff and coaches of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) can be paid.
...
Moving along predictably.
We live in a finite world of permissible 'payment mechanisms'. Be wary of "creative solutions".
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I can't believe Soooo many people willing to accept this nonsense like it's nothing! Whey Sah
Better belief it!!!
deeks get real! I support going to CAS, I also support going to the high court if there are no repercussions of an impending suspension or ban from football. now please explain to my why mr wallace would want to fight fifa if he has no support, that’s like a vagrant wanting to work for high tech company but he has no qualifications, no place to live and no clothes to wear to work, it’s just crazy.
mr wallace and his executive doesn't even have the financial support to fight their case in the CAS which is the right forum for their complaint, neither does he have the support of any other federations in the region or influential people with money.
in all honesty I am extremely disappointed with these men as to how broke and destitute they, and to make matters worst they want to fight the case in local court which would bring a suspension, and as far as I can see and this is exactly where fifa wants us to go so they could get rid of wallace and his executive for good.
have you noticed that fifa don’t want no kind of olive branch with the executive, they don’t want to work with them and they are not cooperating in anyway shape or form, and that’s because they want them out of the way, and if wallace and company takes god out their thoughts and go the high court route, fifa will grasp the opportunity to suspend them for sure, and then where does that leave them?
they would not even be able to fight the next election leaving a clear path for DJW to get back in power and ultimately that’s what fifa wants. IMO wallace should either take his row back to CAS or fall back and work behind the scenes to strengthen ties with the football stake holders locally in preparation to contest the next election.
please open your eyes people, why is that so hard to see that he’s heading into a trap set by fat boy and infantino? he’s going exactly where they want him so he could be banned and pushed aside, and then DJW find an easy way to waltz right back in as president. that’s what allyuh calls standing up, I thought war was a strategic endeavor? going to the high court will only get him banned, trust me, and who the he’ll does that help especially when it will be taking us back to square one? think wallace think!
Ok, then let DJW get reelected.
and who does that help exactly deeks, have you forgotten the last 4 yrs? can you seriously tell me that you as an avid football fan able to take a re-occurrence of that clueless kind of mismanagement for another 4 yrs?
i'm telling you right now i would never support TT football if that fat ugly bastard was ever to become TTFA president again, in fact i just might burn down his house and never come back to trinidad if that ever were to happen that's how much i despise that man, even more than i despised jack warner.
wallace should use his head and not his ambition. he's literally jacking up his chances of ever being the federation prez, but if he chills and realize his limitations he could actually come back stronger in a couple years. pls wallace take warning.
PS. the players don't want to play for DJW nor do they like his fat behind, the man is a bloody pig and the very worst federation prez thus far, even worst than oliver camps the absentee land lord.
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Let's not reassure t any football executives with the letters JW in it land we talking the rise of local magnate of building an empire through the profits of football
We talking any executive past or present who owns a football team cannot runTTFA for the general good without some self seeking get rich erection of what amounts to bea Taj Mahal - from the centre of excellence to the Home of football - these monuments have co e with a price
There's definitely one waiting like Chelsea Clinton.
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CAS chastises United TTFA; action against FIFA officially terminated
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
The Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dealt out a scolding to the executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), while also confirming the official termination of their action against the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
William Wallace was also informed that CAS will keep the 1,000 francs deposit, which his financially-challenged group had lodged to register an appeal before the international court two months ago.
Operating as United TTFA, sidelined Football Association president Wallace and his three vice-presidents filed an appeal to CAS on April 6 challenging FIFA’s intervention in Trinidad and Tobago football, when replacing the TTFA executive with a normalisation committee on March 17. United TTFA subsequently withdrew the appeal on May 18.
Yesterday, CAS delivered the official termination notice of the matter between the TTFA and FIFA. Rendering the termination notice, Dr Elisabeth Steiner, deputy president of CAS’s appeal division, took the opportunity to defend the international court.
“I confirm that the Court of Arbitration for Sport is independent and impartial from all parties; the CAS’s independence has already been confirmed by several national and international tribunals,” Steiner declared.
“Any statement to the contrary, such as the ones which have been published in some media, is totally unacceptable,” added Steiner, who is an attorney-at-law in Austria.
United TTFA attorney Dr Emir Crowne had written CAS’s head of arbitration Antonio De Queseda, on May 7, noting irregularities in the procedure against FIFA. Crowne also questioned the 40,000 Swiss Francs advance cost of the proceedings, of which FIFA refused to pay its half-share up front.
“I write to you to formally raise our clients’ very grave concerns over a number of irregularities which have arisen in these proceedings. These irregularities have caused our clients to believe their right to a fair hearing has been impugned,” Crowne had said.
“On its face, therefore, the CAS appears to be a willing participant in the respondent’s (FIFA) gamesmanship, especially if the CAS had Institutional knowledge that the respondent — an entity with immeasurable financial resources — would not be advancing their share of the arbitration costs, and especially since it was the respondent themselves who asked that the matter be heard before a three-person panel, thereby tripling the cost of the proceedings.”
“To be clear, even if our clients applied to the CAS for legal aid, it would still not remedy the apparent institutional bias that has arisen. As it stands, there are very real doubts that the CAS remains an appropriate and fair forum for the resolution of this dispute.”
In an earlier correspondence, via De Queseda, CAS’s response was that those allegations were untrue. “Whereas on 8 May 2020, the CAS Court Office sent a letter to the parties which relevant part reads as follows: As an initial matter, the alleged irregularities raised by the appellants (United TTFA) are rejected.”
And the CAS defended its decision to use a traditional three-member arbitration panel instead of the single arbitrator requested by TTFA attorneys -- given the legal complexity and sensitivity of the case. Further, CAS shifted blame to the TTFA representatives.
“More importantly, in view of the fact that the counsels for the appellants (United TTFA) failed to provide a single reason to justify their request to submit this matter to a sole arbitrator,” CAS had stated.
Yesterday’s final correspondence between Wallace’s team and the Court of Arbitration confirmed that the case is now closed. CAS further announced that because no arbitration panel was yet formed, the TTFA’s costs will be limited to just its registration fee.
“Consideration that the present order is rendered without costs, except for the Court Office fee of CHF 1’000 which was paid by the appellants and which is retained by the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” Steiner explained. “The appeal filed by the appellants shall be deemed withdrawn and the procedure CAS 2020/A/6915 Trinidad and Tobago Football Association et al. FIFA shall consequently be terminated and deleted from the CAS roll.”
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There is no requirement that mandates counsel to state a rationale for arbitration via a sole arbitrator. As such, to present the absence of a rationale as a consequential deficiency is a hollow attempt at distraction.
CAS is constructively engaging in an ad hominem attack in rendering that response as its public position.
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Dear editor: Why Fifa’s normalisation committee won’t help T&T’s football.
Wired868.com.
“The real problem with the TTFA isn’t generally about the president of the TTFA. The problem is and has been the individuals representing the member associations.
“[…] History speaks for itself about what our presidents have done because our democratic membership allowed it to happen…”
The following letter to the editor on Fifa’s decision to implement a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago was submitted by FC Santa Rosa official, Jason Laban:
It is said that sometimes the best thing to say is nothing. I generally try to follow that when it comes to matters of politics—however I feel like this is one of those times that something needs to be said.
The footballing and general public have been exposed to numerous articles as well as television coverage of this whole matter of the TTFA vs Fifa and the Fifa’s normalisation committee. What is being said is always about the fight or the stance taken by TTFA against Fifa and/or how it will affect our football in Trinidad and Tobago.
Let me start by saying this, either direction this matter goes Trinidad & Tobago football will suffer. The question is: do we suffer to become better; or do we suffer and continue to suffer?
The reality of the TTFA has always been about politics and self-interest rather than football. I am a stakeholder and I’ve been fortunate enough to be allowed entry at TTFA meetings for some time now. Due to that access, I’d like to share this perspective with the general public, as I have with my friends.
The real problem with the TTFA isn’t generally about the president of the TTFA. The problem is and has been the individuals representing the member associations.
I say that for a couple reasons: 1. The president usually comes from a member association and 2. The members have the ability to a stop a president if wrongdoing is taking place.
History speaks for itself about what our presidents have done because our democratic membership allowed it to happen.
And this is why Fifa and its normalisation committee cannot help our football. The facts are that Fifa stood by and allowed the TTFA’s debts to balloon, money to disappear, projects to be run without proper accountability and the deterioration of our national football teams—without stopping the guilty administrations, much less intervening in any way.
Apart from Fifa’s failure to show it cared about our football over the years, a normalisation committee does not have the power to change the culture of the TTFA or its membership. And until that is done, Trinidad and Tobago’s football will keep going around and around in the same cycle as before.
Members of the TTFA have shown how highly they regard self-interest, low accountability, corrupt practices, egotism and nepotism. And for those reasons, they have prioritised support of presidents who served their interests over what should be the most important thing of all: FOOTBALL.
I recently read an article where the acting TT Pro League chairman, speaking on the current TTFA administration’s court matter against FIFA, said: “This appears to be a moral stance for Wallace but certainly not for the country.”
This can only be expected from someone representing the Pro League—a league that consistently struggles financially, has no academies to develop young talent and is owned by private individuals who receive taxpayers money to pay their players!
Imagine if privately owned companies like Carib or KFC received funding from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to pay its workers. How is that for morals?
(We can dig deeper into how much our talented youth players are paid versus the executives of these privately-owned clubs, but we’ll leave that one alone.)
There are TT Super League members who claim they are excluded from decisions, yet don’t attend meetings and don’t reply to emails
We have regional associations that are practically non-existent, with limited to no teams playing football and whose representatives come to TTFA meetings and say they are only there to vote and don’t want their time wasted with discussion because they ‘didn’t come for all of that’. We have members whose associations only exist on paper, yet are allowed to travel with TTFA contingents.
I give those examples to show what some of the TTFA membership looks like. Some of them don’t even know what a moral, principled stance towards country and football looks like.
If Fifa wins in courts or current TTFA administration submits, nothing changes with our football or the culture that controls our football. If you’re happy with the state of our football, then this would be your preference.
If the TTFA wins its legal battle and Fifa decides to ban us from international football, sad as that may be, it won’t last forever. And, during the period of our international ban, maybe we can focus our energies on development plans and improving our football for our eventual return to the international game.
The TTFA’s fight with Fifa is a moral stance for country. Do we suffer to become better, or do we suffer and continue to suffer?
I would prefer we suffer to become better. But then again, I’m in the TTFA for football and not politics, or self-interest, or egotism.
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WATCH: Investigative sports journalist Philippe Auclair who has done work with the Guardian UK, BBC and France Football, spoke to Ryan Bachoo on the latest developments taking place between TTFA and the FIFA.
https://www.youtube.com/v/x6OFpGYhtdo
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WATCH: William Wallace and Keith Look Loy talk about TTFA vs FIFA
https://www.youtube.com/v/c1dcJ64vFsE
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No compromise: Unpaid TTFA staff still caught in middle of TTFA/FIFA fight
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
THERE will be no compromise between William Wallace and his sidelined executives of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and the FIFA-imposed normalisation committee.
TTFA president William Wallace and technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy were both guests on the Field of Dreams programme on cable television on Monday. There, a combative Look Loy defended the Association’s decision to prevent access to its bank accounts by FIFA’s normalisation committee, chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad.
But while these two Goliaths battle, feeling the effects are ordinary TTFA administrative and coaching staff who have not been paid for four months.
The TTFA is owed US$1.25 million in FIFA funding. However, with both the Wallace-led TTFA and the normalisation committee claiming legitimacy, bankers First Citizens have withheld access to the Association’s accounts, barring a compromise or a court decision favouring one of the parties. In the meantime, TTFA staff have remained unpaid since February.
“We have nothing against the staff,” Look Loy said on the programme. “If FIFA wants to pay the staff directly from money that is owed to us the TTFA, they are free to do that.
“We wish they would pay the staff,” Look Loy added, “so that the staff can be paid for work they have done. They are owed.”
While the political battle rages on, an adult TTFA staff member spoke to the Express of having to once again depend on parents to make ends meet. Not paid since February, the administrative staffer shared with this newspaper the hardship faced by not being paid for four months, especially during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
“You can’t pay bills. You can’t do anything,” the TTFA staffer said. “People are calling and asking for money and for three months you have to tell them you have not been paid.
“Whatever little you have, you have to use to make sure you can eat. So all bills are packed up. You are struggling,” the staffer explained.
“There are some of us whose families are dependent on them. I am now dependent on my parents who are pensioners.”
The staffer is eagerly awaiting a call for a meeting or news that things have been resolved.
“I have not heard from the past (Wallace) regime,” said the staffer, who also reached out to TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, who is working with the normalisation committee.
“All of them (normalisation committee) are saying they working on it, but everything is tied up with all the court matters and what not and what not.” Normalisation committee member and National Flour Mills chairman Nigel Romano was recently quoted on a television programme as stating they (normalisation committee) are working on paying the staff. Aside from access to the FCB accounts, the normalisation committee also has the difficulty of trying to protect incoming FIFA funding from garnishee orders from creditors who are owed approximately $50 million by the TTFA.
“Once we can organise a payment mechanism, then we can pay. We are taking advice on the best way because the last thing you would want to do is have the monies to put into a bank account and then you cannot get the money out,” Romano said.
Speaking to moderator and former national footballer Steve David, Look Loy spoke of a strategy of preventing the normalisation committee from taking control of T&T finances and banks accounts at First Citizens.
“We are not blocking the staff, but the FIFA normalisation committee will not control the TTFA bank accounts, because it cannot overturn an elected government,’ Look Loy insisted.
However, the ordinary TTFA employee has a different view of things.
“We, the ones in the office, are the ones who are always affected by these things,” the staffer lamented.
Meanwhile, Look Loy‘s focus has not shifted from the battle to have FIFA rescind its decision to replace Wallace’s four-month old executive.
“We have blocked them at every turn. They tried to put Terrell Patrick—who was signing checks with John-Williams—to put him in charge. That was blocked,” he said.
“They tried to impose a normalisation committee, we blocked the committee from getting access to the bank accounts,” Look Loy added.
“This little Trinidad and Tobago has forced the FIFA Goliath to respond to his case in the local court,” said Look Loy. “They were shocked because they did not expect us to stand up, and now they have to come in a different stadium to play.”
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So what allyuh think?
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Cudjoe to coaches: Sort out salary issues with TTFA, NC
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Though sympathetic towards the plight of the country's national coaches and administrative staff for unpaid wages for the last three months, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe has directed the staff and coaches to thrash out their salary issue with the T&T Football Association or the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee.
Both coaches and staff have not been paid salaries since February, due to the cash-strapped position of the embattled football association, and following a threat to take their plight to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Tuesday, the coaches are now hinting at possible legal proceedings.
They are now holding talks to decide what is their next move and how they will go about doing it.
At a meeting on Friday morning with the administrative staff and the chairman of the Normalisation Committee, businessman Robert Hadad, there was still no relief for the employees.
Cudjoe, when contacted by Guardian Media Sports on Friday said her ministry could not help as there is a practice for payment of salaries.
"I am going to say what I know the policy is and what the practice has been. The NGBs pay for their own coaches, through the assistance of their parent body. The same goes for football. So I trust that the FIFA committee and the relevant bodies would work on that matter. Right now, that is not a matter for the Ministry of Sports."
Quizzed on whether anything can be done due to the strenuous situation between the parties, Cudjoe assured, there could be no other answer that can be given.
The last time the coaches and staff were paid salaries was back in February when General Secretary of the TTFA Ramesh Ramdhan borrowed monies to pay them. Since then, however, Hadad and his members of the normalisation committee, retired banker Nigel Romano and Judy Daniel, and the ousted T&TFA members- William Wallace (president) and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips have been at war for the ownership of the TTFA bank accounts, for the right to govern local football and the right to use the football association's letterhead.
Wallace and Keith Look Loy, the former TTFA Technical Committee chairman, both made it clear on a Field of Dreams programme on Monday night, that they were not willing to compromise their present stance by granting the normalisation committee access to the TTFA accounts so that payments could be made the staff and coaches while admitting they had nothing against the staff and coaches.
Cudjoe, who in April made a public call on football officials to come together for the good of the sport of football, also responded to a call by coaches for public assistance as was done during the ongoing covid19 situation by saying: "I am sure every citizen who would have lost their income due to COVID-19, is free to apply through the Ministry of Social Development and the necessary assessment and so on would take place there."
She dismissed the notion that the Ministry can make provisions for coaches and athletes in the event the NGBs fail in their duties to make payments. She said, "It is not the practice of the policy of the Ministry of Sport or SporTT. It is usually an arrangement between the NGBs and their parent bodies and that is where I stand at this point."
The TTFA is set to receive monies from the FIFA for the COVID-19 relief and grants to Member Association which the Normalisation committee intends to use to pay salaries.
This means the embattled football association is in line to receive US$1.2 million (an estimated TT$6.7million), plus a CONCACAF US$160,000 (an estimated TT$1,040,000) grant, as well as an unknown amount for the relief fund.
However, Romano told Guardian Media Sports on Wednesday that payments can only be made after a payment mechanism is worked out.
The coaches and staff have not been paid for the months of March, April and May.
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Wallace: Refusal to toe line led to ‘normalisation’
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
William Wallace feels that a decision not to tow the line led to FIFA taking action against his former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association executives who, in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, are now challenging their dismissal by FIFA, the governing body for world football.
Deposed TTFA president Wallace and technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy were both guests on Steve David’s Field of Dreams programme on Flow Sports, There, they gave their version of events leading up to the takeover of the TTFA on March 17, when FIFA replaced the three-month-old Wallace regime with a FIFA-appointed normalisation committee chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad.
Wallace thinks a bold statement he made on becoming TTFA president last November may have ruffled the feathers of authorities in Concacaf and subsequently, FIFA. He believes regional football bodies did not want a return to the days when Jack Warner commanded a block of 31 Caribbean votes and the power in Concacaf, the body which governs football in the Caribbean, North and Central America. He thinks that with Caribbean votes having decided several FIFA elections, governing bodies are more comfortable with the current pliable CFU leadership.
FIFA pointed to an historic US $7m debt and the threat of creditors levying on TTFA assets as its reason for intervening in Trinidad and Tobago’s football. But Wallace feels his bold statement, tied in with two other things, might have sparked FIFA’S rage.
First was reporting of financial impropriety they found in the TTFA upon taking office and second, a decision to temporarily close the FIFA-funded Home of Football which FIFA president Gianni Infantino personally opened, mere days before Wallace took office on November 24, 2019.
“I made a statement, a bold statement in an interview (claiming) that the voice of the Caribbean was lost in this ‘One Concacaf’. I said I have no problem with the One Concacaf but what I’m saying is that the Caribbean is supposed to maintain an identity and voice within the One Concacaf,” Wallace said.
After repeating the statement during another interview, Wallace said things began to unravel, leading to his executive being summarily stripped of power.
“I got a call from the (United) States, saying to me that the statement ruffled some feathers.” Wallace said.
Wallace spoke of FIFA’S lack of communication with his executive from the onset and further disrespect shown by the world body to one of its oldest members, despite his executives reaching out several times and asking for dialogue rather than confrontation.
“Looking back now, I think the direction in which we were going in, I think it wasn’t a happy place for some people. I think, based on that, action was taken,” Wallace said.
Technical committee chairman Keith look Loy chimed in that openly reporting the financial situation, Wallace’s executive found when taking over the TTFA also shook up those in higher authority.
“When we came in, we said what we saw,” Look Loy said. “that surely ruffled some feathers as well.”
Look Loy described the new TTFA as a sovereign and independent body.
“We are accountable to Concacaf and FIFA and the international organisation we belong to. But first and foremost, we are accountable to our members and the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” he added.
Look Loy hypothesised that their fall out with FIFA stemmed from reporting financial malpractice of the previous David John-Williams-led regime and also refusing to tow the line of the international body, FIFA.
“Because the president (Wallace) indicated early in the game that we are going to chart an independent course, we not kissing anybody’s ring, we don’t see ourselves as beholden to anybody, the people who hold the purse strings at the FIFA decided we cannot abide by this. We have to move these people from office,” Look Loy speculated,
Wallace reckoned that he knew of 33 countries that faced FIFA normalisation.
“The only country that the officers were put out of office for not being culpable for anything, sins that they did not commit, is Trinidad and Tobago,” said Wallace. “And this tells you something.”
“The FIFA (and) Concacaf, one is led to believe, have a political investment in our dependency and the disarray of Caribbean football,” Look Loy put in.
“They do not want strong, independent national associations. They want us forever hanging onto FIFA financing and little more, and do not want a collectively strong Caribbean football Union that could dominate the politics and the development of Concacaf football because we have the numbers.
“They don’t want that. So they quite happy to support the existence of Caribbean football leaders who tow the line, who do what they want and who are terrified of losing funding because they do not wish to have to do the work that will generate independent financing to give them a leg to stand on.”
Wallace promises to fight his case in court regardless of the outcome.
“We are talking about Trinidad and Tobago being banned. Of course there is a possibility of whatever action FIFA can take at the end the day,” admitted Wallace, who is banking on T&T’S fate being decided by collective consensus of all of FIFA’s 211 members rather than just a few individuals.
“If football associations all around the world decide that this is the correct thing to do, well, so be it,” he said.
“This action was taken based on knowing we have a case. We have a very strong case and our case will be taken into account when a decision like this has to be made.”
Look Loy added that many other countries are looking carefully at the outcome of the impending Trinidad and Tobago High Court battle with FIFA.
“We are not the only ones chafing under this colonial relationship with FIFA,” Look Loy said. “Because you have odds stacked against you, does that mean you back away from the fight?”
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Wallace: Refusal to toe line led to ‘normalisation’
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
William Wallace feels that a decision not to tow the line led to FIFA taking action against his former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association executives who, in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, are now challenging their dismissal by FIFA, the governing body for world football.
Deposed TTFA president Wallace and technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy were both guests on Steve David’s Field of Dreams programme on Flow Sports, There, they gave their version of events leading up to the takeover of the TTFA on March 17, when FIFA replaced the three-month-old Wallace regime with a FIFA-appointed normalisation committee chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad.
Wallace thinks a bold statement he made on becoming TTFA president last November may have ruffled the feathers of authorities in Concacaf and subsequently, FIFA. He believes regional football bodies did not want a return to the days when Jack Warner commanded a block of 31 Caribbean votes and the power in Concacaf, the body which governs football in the Caribbean, North and Central America. He thinks that with Caribbean votes having decided several FIFA elections, governing bodies are more comfortable with the current pliable CFU leadership.
FIFA pointed to an historic US $7m debt and the threat of creditors levying on TTFA assets as its reason for intervening in Trinidad and Tobago’s football. But Wallace feels his bold statement, tied in with two other things, might have sparked FIFA’S rage.
First was reporting of financial impropriety they found in the TTFA upon taking office and second, a decision to temporarily close the FIFA-funded Home of Football which FIFA president Gianni Infantino personally opened, mere days before Wallace took office on November 24, 2019.
“I made a statement, a bold statement in an interview (claiming) that the voice of the Caribbean was lost in this ‘One Concacaf’. I said I have no problem with the One Concacaf but what I’m saying is that the Caribbean is supposed to maintain an identity and voice within the One Concacaf,” Wallace said.
After repeating the statement during another interview, Wallace said things began to unravel, leading to his executive being summarily stripped of power.
“I got a call from the (United) States, saying to me that the statement ruffled some feathers.” Wallace said.
Wallace spoke of FIFA’S lack of communication with his executive from the onset and further disrespect shown by the world body to one of its oldest members, despite his executives reaching out several times and asking for dialogue rather than confrontation.
“Looking back now, I think the direction in which we were going in, I think it wasn’t a happy place for some people. I think, based on that, action was taken,” Wallace said.
Technical committee chairman Keith look Loy chimed in that openly reporting the financial situation, Wallace’s executive found when taking over the TTFA also shook up those in higher authority.
“When we came in, we said what we saw,” Look Loy said. “that surely ruffled some feathers as well.”
Look Loy described the new TTFA as a sovereign and independent body.
“We are accountable to Concacaf and FIFA and the international organisation we belong to. But first and foremost, we are accountable to our members and the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” he added.
Look Loy hypothesised that their fall out with FIFA stemmed from reporting financial malpractice of the previous David John-Williams-led regime and also refusing to tow the line of the international body, FIFA.
“Because the president (Wallace) indicated early in the game that we are going to chart an independent course, we not kissing anybody’s ring, we don’t see ourselves as beholden to anybody, the people who hold the purse strings at the FIFA decided we cannot abide by this. We have to move these people from office,” Look Loy speculated,
Wallace reckoned that he knew of 33 countries that faced FIFA normalisation.
“The only country that the officers were put out of office for not being culpable for anything, sins that they did not commit, is Trinidad and Tobago,” said Wallace. “And this tells you something.”
“The FIFA (and) Concacaf, one is led to believe, have a political investment in our dependency and the disarray of Caribbean football,” Look Loy put in.
“They do not want strong, independent national associations. They want us forever hanging onto FIFA financing and little more, and do not want a collectively strong Caribbean football Union that could dominate the politics and the development of Concacaf football because we have the numbers.
“They don’t want that. So they quite happy to support the existence of Caribbean football leaders who tow the line, who do what they want and who are terrified of losing funding because they do not wish to have to do the work that will generate independent financing to give them a leg to stand on.”
Wallace promises to fight his case in court regardless of the outcome.
“We are talking about Trinidad and Tobago being banned. Of course there is a possibility of whatever action FIFA can take at the end the day,” admitted Wallace, who is banking on T&T’S fate being decided by collective consensus of all of FIFA’s 211 members rather than just a few individuals.
“If football associations all around the world decide that this is the correct thing to do, well, so be it,” he said.
“This action was taken based on knowing we have a case. We have a very strong case and our case will be taken into account when a decision like this has to be made.”
Look Loy added that many other countries are looking carefully at the outcome of the impending Trinidad and Tobago High Court battle with FIFA.
“We are not the only ones chafing under this colonial relationship with FIFA,” Look Loy said. “Because you have odds stacked against you, does that mean you back away from the fight?”
Key words and sentences in this piece which I love that has come to light and is finally being discussed out in the open:
- colonial relationship - neo colonialism as I have always maintained is at play, to control and oppress
- tow the line - fifa currently wants subservient and obedient slaves that are happy with no real power
- one concacaf - derails the Cfu and the democratic power the Cfu can possess to ignite change and also demand wc births etc and autonomy most importantly
- they do not want a collectively strong Cfu - again as I said, we need our wc births, over 20 nations and no space for us in a WC? I won’t even start with Africa and that over 50 nations also have to fight for limited wc births ...
Towing the line = enslavement
I don’t care if we are banned tbh, I rather we be free and autonomous and unite the Cfu than be slaves to the corrupt
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Key words and sentences in this piece which I love that has come to light and is finally being discussed out in the open:
- colonial relationship - neo colonialism as I have always maintained is at play, to control and oppress
- tow the line - fifa currently wants subservient and obedient slaves that are happy with no real power
- one concacaf - derails the Cfu and the democratic power the Cfu can possess to ignite change and also demand wc births etc and autonomy most importantly
- they do not want a collectively strong Cfu - again as I said, we need our wc births, over 20 nations and no space for us in a WC? I won’t even start with Africa and that over 50 nations also have to fight for limited wc births ...
Towing the line = enslavement
I don’t care if we are banned tbh, I rather we be free and autonomous and unite the Cfu than be slaves to the corrupt
Lash Dem.
-
Key words and sentences in this piece which I love that has come to light and is finally being discussed out in the open:
- colonial relationship - neo colonialism as I have always maintained is at play, to control and oppress
- tow the line - fifa currently wants subservient and obedient slaves that are happy with no real power
- one concacaf - derails the Cfu and the democratic power the Cfu can possess to ignite change and also demand wc births etc and autonomy most importantly
- they do not want a collectively strong Cfu - again as I said, we need our wc births, over 20 nations and no space for us in a WC? I won’t even start with Africa and that over 50 nations also have to fight for limited wc births ...
Towing the line = enslavement
I don’t care if we are banned tbh, I rather we be free and autonomous and unite the Cfu than be slaves to the corrupt
Lash Dem.
Who is uniting who the CFU does not care about Trinidad and Tobago or else someone would’ve said something by now. Everybody for their selves.
History shows anytime you want something like this you have to stand up and make a lot of noise, you need the rest of the world to see this and support at The very least it should’ve been the CFU looking to help.
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Wallace to Sport Minister: You’re confusing me
By Narissa Fraser (T&T Newsday)
FORMER president of the T&T Football Association William Wallace says Sport Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s stance on the association’s ongoing legal battle against FIFA is confusing.
The world governing body of football, in March, removed the TTFA executive and appointed a normalisation committee owing to financial woes. It is chaired by businessman Robert Hadad.
The executive has since continued to state it is still in charge of TTFA’s affairs and has since filed appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and T&T’s High Court. They said based on the association’s constitution, FIFA cannot remove the executive.
In a release issued, on Saturday, Wallace said he has listened to each of Cudjoe’s “public pronouncements” on the matter. But, “each time, alas, I am left more confused.
He said in an interview on local radio station i95.5FM on Friday, she said, “William Wallace and his entourage should work with the normalisation committee”.
He said he found the statement “disrespectful,” and that the “duly, democratically elected vice-presidents of the TTFA” are not his “entourage.
“Ms Cudjoe is a member of the same parliament that has created and given life to the TTFA. Is she, then, suggesting that decisions made by the Parliament should be treated with scant courtesy? Is she, as Minister of Sport agreeing, that the constitution that governs the TTFA, or perhaps even the constitution that governs any national sporting organisation can be set aside by a foreign power?”
He said when the decision was announced, in March, Cudjoe said she had known about the impending decision “for some time.” But he said she “changed her tune” after being asked about that and openly supported FIFA’s decision.
“However, when questioned, she declared that she remained neutral, having taken no sides in the matter. Displaying this brand of continuing neutrality yesterday, the Minister called on the elected officers to work with the appointed normalisation committee.”
He said it is no secret he and his team have proposed mediation to FIFA.
He alleged she and Hadad confirmed the decision to appoint the committee was made in early January or possibly earlier.
“It is also unfortunate that even now, with the matter before the court, the minister is continuing to make pronouncements as to what should happen. The minister has also said that since we were elected to office we did not ask to meet with her.”
He said to his knowledge, it is “standard practice” for the Sport Minister to congratulate any newly-elected sporting executive and invite the members to meet.
“We have taken what we perceive to be a stand against injustice. We are prepared to endure whatever pain we have to endure so that all of us may be better for it.
“We reject both positions out-of-hand. We have stood—and continue to stand—against all injustice. And if it comes down to a choice between country and ourselves, we are more than aware that this is not a real choice. Shalom.”
The letter was signed by Wallace, who referred to himself as the elected TTFA president.
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FIFA retains new legal team in case against TTFA.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).
FIFA has appointed attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC and Co as its new legal team in its case against the TT Football Association (TTFA).
In a notice issued by FIFA’s chief legal and compliance officer Dr Emilio Garcia, on Tuesday, M Hamel-Smith and Co replaced the services of the law offices of Dr Claude Denbow SC.
The latter was retained by the world governing body on May 27 but had its services relinquished less than two weeks later. No reason was given for the sudden change of legal aid.
This correspondence was also sent to the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Justice, in Port-of-Spain, the law office of Dr Claude Denbow and to TTFA’s legal representative Matthew Gayle. The local football administration is also being defended by Dr Emir Crowne. The document was also signed off by M Hamel-Smith & Co attorney Cherie Gopie.
On March 17, FIFA decided to remove the TTFA executive – William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip – from office and set up a normalisation committee due to mounting debts ($50 million) accumulated by the local football governing body.
On May 18, Wallace and his legal team withdrew their matter against FIFA from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to the local High Court.
The legal action asks the court to declare FIFA’s move to remove the TTFA executive and implement a normalisation committee (headed by Robert Hadad) as “null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect” and to place a permanent injunction against FIFA and its normalisation committee from “attempting (to remove the TTFA’s) duly elected executive from office” and “interfering in the day-to-day management of the (TTFA).”
Hamel-Smith and partner Jonathan Walker successfully represented US television giant Telemundo, three years ago, against the TTFA, during the previous term of then local football president David John-Williams.
John-Williams attempted to deter Telemundo from exercising television rights for T&T’s World Cup qualifying matches and tried to resell the rights. However, the former TTFA head folded and had the matter settled out of court.
Fifa has a deadline of June 18 to file its response to the TTFA’s injunction.
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FIFA files injunction at High Court.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).
FIFA has filed an injunction in the TT High Court to stop it from hearing any matter relating to its normalisation committee.
This committee was set up in mid-March by the sport’s global governing body to resolve financial mismanagement and over TT$50 million in debt incurred by the TT Football Association (TTFA).
The injunction insists that the right forum for its current dispute with the TTFA is the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and not the T&T High Court, according to a report on wired868.com.
Fifa has also requested, once successful, that former TTFA president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip pay its legal costs too.
Fifa’s stance was filed with the High Court through its attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M. Hamel-Smith and Co. TTFA is being represented by Matthew Gayle, Dr. Emir Crowne and Crystal Paul of New City Chambers.
Wallace and his team were elected to office by ousting David John-Williams after two rounds at the TTFA annual general meeting in November 2019. On March 17, Fifa removed the Wallace-led administration from the helm of local football citing financial mismanagement and major debt.
Wallace and his team have challenged Fifa’s actions claiming the football body is unworthy of removing a democratically elected slate.
Speaking with Keith Look Loy, a member of Wallace’s United TTFA group, he confirmed Fifa’s submission and hoped for a speedy start to the legal process. “The court date is yet to be set. The court has now received documents from both sides. FIFA submitted theirs yesterday (Monday). Now the court will set a date. We’re hoping for a swift start because this is dragging (on). Fifa answered our claim in the court on Monday and the court will set the date for the hearing,” he said.
According to Look Loy, this case is based on two legal principles – national sovereignty and the right of TTFA members to elect or remove who they want. Although at odds with some of Wallace’s decision during his short tenure at the helm of local football, Look Loy remains grounded that Fifa has overstepped their boundaries by disbanding the Wallace administration.
“We fully intend to pursue this case. In a perfect world, speaking on my personal behalf, I would like to see the court uphold the validity of the Wallace administration and the membership make a decision on how the Wallace administration proceeds, if it is to proceed. Because it is the membership that put them there and that is democracy. That is the principle on which we are standing in the court,” he closed.
RELATED NEWS
Fifa fights back; urges High Court to send dispute to CAS—and for TTFA to pay its costs!.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Fifa today filed an injunction in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, which seeks to stop it from hearing any matter in relation to its normalisation committee and insists that the right forum for its dispute with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
And, if successful in its treaty, the billion-dollar world governing body is demanding that TTFA president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip pay its legal costs too.
Fifa’s legal position was electronically filed with the High Court, through attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co. The TTFA is represented by Matthew Gayle, Dr Emir Crowne and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers.
Fifa’s injunction attempts to nullify—or at least set aside—a request by the TTFA’s legal team that the High Court declare the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee, headed by businessman Robert Hadad, to be ‘null, void and of no legal and/or binding effect’ and to block it from ‘attempting removing the [TTFA’s] duly elected executive from office’ and ‘interfering in the day-to-day management of the [TTFA], including the [TTFA’s] bank accounts and real property’.
Fifa’s Bureau of the Council, which is headed by president Gianni Infantino, announced the set up of a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago on 17 March 2020.
The TTFA initiated arbitration proceedings against Fifa at the CAS on 6 April—in keeping with the constitution of both football bodies. However, on 18 May, the local football body filed in the High Court and withdrew from the CAS.
Wallace told Wired868 that he abandoned the CAS due to concerns about the body’s impartiality.
“In short order, it became clear that CAS was prepared to ignore its own regulations to facilitate Fifa in its handling of TTFA vs Fifa,” said Wallace, on 18 May. “Specifically, CAS directed the democratically elected TTFA officers to pay 40,000 Swiss francs to cover the entire cost of the proceedings, when its regulations require the two parties to a matter to pay half each.
“It was only in response to the TTFA’s officers’ objection to this glaring denial of its own regulations that CAS called on Fifa to pay its half (20,000 Swiss francs), which Fifa has since refused to do.
“As a consequence of Fifa’s refusal and based on some other institutional behaviour of CAS, we along with our legal team have serious doubts that we would be afforded a fair hearing at CAS—even if we decided to pay Fifa’s part of the cost.”
Fifa, through affidavits filed by Fifa chief member associations officer Veron Mosengo-Omba and attorney Miguel Lietard, countered that the CAS merely followed its own rules and the TTFA did not follow the appropriate steps if it had a financial issue.
“[…] The CAS Rules of Arbitration provided that where a respondent did not pay its advance of costs, such advance may be paid by the appellant/claimant,” stated Fifa, “[and] that at all material times the [TTFA] had the option of applying for legal aid under the provisions Section 6 of the ICAS Code…”
Fifa insisted that the TTFA ought to be compelled to use the CAS due to an arbitration clause in its constitution, as well as in the Fifa Statutes.
And, in its injunction, it noted that the TTFA’s Constitution required it to: ‘observe the FIFA Statutes as well as its regulations, directives and decisions’ and that it ‘would not take matters of interpretation and application of the FIFA Statutes and its regulations, directives and decisions to ordinary courts and that they recognised the CAS’.
Further, Hamel-Smith suggested that his opposing legal team had ‘failed to disclose to the court’:
the steps that FIFA had taken in furtherance of its agreement to arbitrate;
that the TTFA Constitution was subject to the provisions of the Fifa Statutes, forbid use of ordinary courts in matters of interpretation and application of the Fifa Statutes and decisions, and recognised CAS’ jurisdiction to deal with such disputes;
that the CAS Rules of Arbitration provided that where a respondent did not pay its advance of costs, such advance may be paid by the appellant/claimant;
that the TTFA had the option of applying for legal aid from CAS;
that the service of process to initiate its High Court action could not be done via email, under Swiss law.
Fifa believes the TTFA’s injunction should be dismissed on the grounds that:
Service out of the jurisdiction on FIFA (which is domiciled in Switzerland) was not permitted by the Civil Proceedings Rules;
The case is not a proper one for the High Court’s jurisdiction; and
The TTFA does not have ‘a good cause of action’.
ifa offered a brief justification of its decision to implement a normalisation committee on the twin island republic.
“Fifa came to learn of the TTFA’s seriously dire financial situation and high level of indebtedness which had resulted in the freezing of the TTFA’s accounts,” stated the affidavit. “Moreover, Fifa concluded that the institutional and regulatory framework of the TTFA did not provide appropriate means to address the alarming financial situation the TTFA was (and is) in; and that its executive committee did not have the appropriate skill set to manage the situation—and had taken no or no appropriate steps to correct the situation.
“In those circumstances, on 17th March 2020, Fifa appointed a normalisation committee for the TTFA.”
Fifa’s assertion that it ‘came to learn of the TTFA’s seriously dire financial situation’ would need some selling, since it approves the local football body’s financial documents on an annual basis.
And, as Wallace repeatedly insisted, the ‘indebtedness’ pointed out by Fifa was wholly the fault of former administrators; and, in particular, his predecessor, David John-Williams, who came in for glowing praise from Infantino as early as last November—just days before the TTFA election.
That notwithstanding, Fifa is asking the High Court to rule that it is not the appropriate body to decide the matter. And it wants Wallace to pay legal costs for its supposedly ill-advised excursion to an ‘ordinary court’.
If the High Court disagrees with Fifa, Hamel-Smith requested another 28 days to file a response to the TTFA’s injunction.
Fifa hinted too at the possible consequences for thwarting its normalisation committee.
“The members of the normalisation committee were carefully selected for their various skill sets, which Fifa believes maximises the chances that the TTFA can recover from its present financial predicament,” stated Fifa. “The removal of the normalisation committee before appropriate controls, policies and procedures are in place at the TTFA will not only jeopardise the achievements to date and reintroduce the threats to the solvency of the TTFA; but it will be a disincentive to Fifa to provide any further funding to the TTFA given the absence of appropriate controls.”
The optimistic view is that, if the TTFA can somehow implement appropriate financial controls in short time and convince Fifa of such, there might be room still to save Wallace’s position at the helm of the body.
But, first and foremost, Wallace’s attorneys must resist Fifa’s attempt to convince the High Court that he and his vice-presidents acted improperly in moving their legal battle to Trinidad.
Otherwise, it may not be not only a dispiriting loss—but an expensive one as well.
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FIFA: A TTFA High Court victory means no funding.
By Derek Achong (Guardian).
Lawyers representing FIFA are seeking to have a lawsuit over the removal of the former executive of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) dismissed before it even reaches trial.
In an application filed in the Supreme Court Registry on Monday, FIFA’s local lawyers claimed that the case brought by former TTFA president William Wallace and his executive team should be dismissed or stayed as the local High Court does not have jurisdiction to entertain it.
FIFA’s lawyer Cherie Gopie pointed out that under FIFA’s Statutes, which the TTFA accepted when it joined the Switzerland-based organisation in 1964, the resolution of disputes involving it or appeals against decisions taken by it and its bodies should be dealt with by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), also based in Switzerland.
“CAS is an independent institution which provides for services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world,” Gopie said, as she noted that similar provisions are contained within the TTFA Constitution.
Gopie suggested that arbitration before CAS would also prevent leaks of confidential information on the work of the Normalization Committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, which was appointed in March to replace Wallace and his associates.
“Much of the detailed information will be confidential and sensitive and its entry into the public domain could have the effect of undermining the ongoing efforts of the members of the Normalization Committee to turn the affairs of the TTFA around and place it on a sound footing for the future,” Gopie said, as she noted that her client was willing to participate in the arbitration up until the lawsuit was filed in May.
In the letter, Gopie sought to outline FIFA’s rationale for intervening in the TTFA.
“FIFA concluded that the institutional and regulatory framework of the TTFA did not provide appropriate means to address the alarming financial situation the TTFA was (and is) in and that the Executive Committee did not have the appropriate skill set to manage the situation and had taken no or no appropriate steps to correct the situation,” she said.
Gopie also claimed that if the executive members were allowed to pursue the lawsuit and are eventually successful, FIFA could choose to withhold vital funding.
“The removal of the Normalization Committee before appropriate controls, policies, and procedures are in place at the TTFA will not only jeopardise the achievements to date and reintroduce the threats to the solvency of the TTFA, but it will be a disincentive to FIFA to provide any further funding to the TTFA given the absence of appropriate controls,” she said.
FIFA’s suggestion of arbitration through CAS comes almost a month after Wallace and his associates were forced to withdraw their appeal before CAS as they were unable to pay the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) in costs associated with the appeal.
Under CAS’s procedural rules, both parties are required to split the costs of the appeal. However, if one party fails to pay its share and the other fails to cover the entire amount by the deadline set by the court, the appeal is automatically withdrawn. Parties can apply to the court for legal aid if they are unable to cover their costs.
In an affidavit attached to the application before the local court, FIFA’s Director of Litigation Miguel Lietard sought to explain his organisation’s general policy to not pay its share when appeals arise.
Stating that FIFA usually has to deal with in excess of 100 cases before CAS annually, Lietard said: “Having to pay the advance of costs in each of these arbitrations will result in FIFA paying large amounts each year towards meeting advanced costs. FIFA would then have to take steps in respect of each case in which it was successful in order to recover those costs (with the attendant difficulties in securing recovery).”
Through the local lawsuit, Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick are seeking a declaration that the decision to remove them was null, void, and of no legal or binding effect.
They are also seeking a permanent injunction barring FIFA from meddling in the TTFA’s affair by allegedly seeking to circumvent the democratic process by removing duly elected executive members.
A date for the hearing of the preliminary application before Justice Carol Gobin is yet to be set.
Wallace and his vice-presidents Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip are represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle and Crystal Paul, while Christopher Hamel-Smith and Jonathan Walker are also representing FIFA.
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No case against FIFA.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).
FORMER T&T Football Association (TTFA) board member Brent Sancho believes the only way local football operations can return to some sort of administrative normalcy is to ensure the ousted William Wallace regime stands down its legal fight against the sport’s global governing body FIFA.
The ex-national defender was angered by the many accusations, including “mismanagement,” against the administration of Wallace, who served at the helm of local football from November 2019 to March 2020.
In mid-March, FIFA removed the TTFA executive “under exceptional circumstances,” citing low financial management methods and massive debt. FIFA then appointed a normalisation committee, headed by businessman Robert Hadad, to temporarily run the affairs of local football and place primary emphasis on dissolving its $50 million debt.
The former T&T executive decided to take this matter against FIFA to the T&T High Court instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), claiming it would not get a fair hearing at CAS. It is currently fighting FIFA on its decision to disband the group, claiming the world football association has no right to interfere with a democratically elected local body.
Sancho says this recent rivalry between the ousted regime and FIFA risks the dismantlement of local football on an extensive scale.
In addition to the legal débâcle, Wallace also signed off on three contracts to Avec Sports (uniforms), national coach Terry Fenwick and Ramesh Ramdhan, none of which got the required agreement from board members.
Since these findings were made public by regional sports broadcaster Sportsmax, members of Wallace’s United TTFA, who campaigned in his favour at the December 2019 TTFA elections, have now turned on their leader.
The former Soca Warrior said, “The best way forward is for the membership to ensure that this United TTFA does not have permission to continue with the court case. I think the membership (TTFA) should call a meeting and stop them from carrying on this court case. These people (are) still going ahead with a court case that could sanction the country despite all of their shortfalls.”
Sancho thinks the normalisation committee should continue its work and also ensure anyone who has been found guilty of wrongdoing should not ever be allowed to run for office. This includes all former presidents and administrators who have shown a high level of dishonesty.
On Tuesday, a fractured United TTFA – Keith Look Loy, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Joseph Sam Phillip and Anthony Harford – issued a press release asking all TTFA members to take part in a virtual conference meeting on Saturday “to allow the members the opportunity to speak on all of the above, as well as the overall tenure of the Wallace administration.”
This request was immediately bashed by Sancho and Selby Browne, president of the Veteran Footballers Foundation of T&T (VFFOTT), who claimed this was a petty excuse to regain favour within the ranks.
The pair agree United TTFA is not a TTFA member and has no authority to call a general meeting of the TTFA. The TTFA constitution provides for a minimum of 50 per cent of the membership to call in writing for a general meeting.
Sancho posted in an emotional response on Facebook on Wednesday: “Be gone with you all. You have no moral authority to call any meeting and you certainly have no moral authority to pursue a course of action that could result in TTFA being banned by FIFA. No right-thinking member will subscribe to a meeting or support court proceedings.”
The Central FC owner also claims he was also prevented from expressing his view as a board member. He said United TTFA is either incapable of managing the business of football or willing conspirators in the further pillaging of T&T football.
“I am angry because when I asked questions…several TTFA board members decided to ignore my concerns. Your ignorance went as far as muting my responses in a WhatsApp group formed for board members. I am angry that this web of deceit has once again brought shame on T&T, has reached the light of day. Those members of United TTFA have the audacity to condemn their leader so that they can attempt to escape this outrage unscathed,” Sancho wrote.
He reaffirmed it was time to clear the floor and support Hadad and the normalisation committee while the country continues its search for a new breed of football administrators to take the reins soon. Sancho also asked for the FIFA-appointed committee to ensure there are appropriate checks and balances in place to prevent the abuse of power by opportunists in the future.
Sharing similar sentiments was president of the Eastern Football Association (EFA) Kieron Edwards. He believes the ejected executive is being misled to think they have a case against FIFA in the local High Court.
“They (Wallace administration) didn’t even consult with the member associations to find out or to let us know what was the case, the pros and cons. They need to pull this case out of the court. They should do the right thing and not jeopardise T&T football. Now is the opportunity for them to make the right decision. This court matter is against FIFA’s statutes,” he said.
Additionally, Edwards called on Ramdhan and Fenwick to approach the normalisation committee to clear the air on these revamped contracts signed off by Wallace, without board approval. According to him, failure to do so would create the assumption they were also part of this hidden agenda.
He closed, “Ramdhan and Fenwick have the opportunity right now to do the right thing as men and say which contract was approved by the board. If the board approved one thing, they should stick to it or else we would have to say all of them were in collusion with this. If they have the best interest of this country at heart, they should come forward and explain. If not, they are no better than anyone that says they did the contract in error.”
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Campaign on to oust Wallace, United TTFA group
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Michael Awai, the AC Port-of-Spain Business Development Officer yesterday began a campaign to oust William Wallace, president of the United T&T Football Association and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, in a bid to save T&T football.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports on Thursday, Awai believes the group is detrimental to the future of football in T&T, particularly based on actions taken to challenge FIFA. He pointed to concerns about taking the FIFA to the High Court in T&T as well as major blunders being made with key contracts.
Awai's action comes on the heels of Tuesday's release by Keith Look Loy, Anthony Harford, Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip to speak out on concerns that Wallace signed contracts for national coach Terry Fenwick, general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, marketing representative Peter Miller and a $25 million sportswear deal with UK firm Avec Sports, all without their knowledge and also without the approval of the Board of Directors of the T&TFA.
The group (United TTFA) is set to meet tomorrow (Saturday) to discuss Wallace's leadership future as well as the future of the group.
However, Awai said he would persuade the 49 members (T&T Pro League, T&T Super League, Regional Associations, Primary and Secondary Schools, Referees Association, Futsal and Beach Soccer and the T&T American Youth Soccer Organisation) to write to the general secretary Ramdhan to call an extraordinary general meeting to stop the group from taking legal action against the FIFA.
He said he will also seek to vote a new team in to manage the affairs of local football. This meeting would require at least 50 per cent of the membership to support the cause and another three-quarter majority of the votes for the group to be ousted.
According to Awai: "It is the membership that will have to call the meeting, so if they don't have a president and a vice president, whoever is there can appoint a chairman for the meeting. In other words, FIFA removed the elected executive on March 17 and replaced it with a Normalisation Committee.
Awai explained that he has indicated that the president and vice president are not there, but the membership, the 49 members or half of the 49 members, can write the general secretary, calling for a meeting and then appoint someone to chair the meeting. Now is a good time for the body membership to have a special general meeting. Once you can get more than 50 per cent, you can do that. That is in the constitution."
He noted further: "If the TTFA wants to drown themselves by taking its case to the High Court, knowing fully well they can't win, then it appears that they are only trying to prove a point and they don't really have the interest of the country or the football at heart, and that is something very distressing to me."
According to the Article 29 of the TTFA constitution: Extraordinary General Meeting 1 The Board of Directors may convene an Extraordinary General Meeting at any time. 2 The Board of Directors shall convene an Extraordinary General Meeting if a majority (more than 50%) of the Members make such a request in writing. The request shall specify the items for the agenda. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be held within 30 days of receipt of the request unless the agenda includes the election of members of the Board of Directors or the members of the Electoral Committee, in which case the Extraordinary General Meeting shall be held within 60 days of receipt of the request. If an Extraordinary General Meeting is not convened within the indicated time, the Members who requested it may convene the Extraordinary General Meeting themselves. As a last resort, the Members may request assistance from FIFA and CONCACAF.
It is believed that the membership can move a vote of no-confidence against the United TTFA leader for the series of admitted missteps, especially after his members described him as operating similar to David John-Williams, the former TTFA president.
Meanwhile, TTFA constitutional expert Osmond Downer clarified the power of the membership to pursue change among the governors of the sport, saying in normal circumstances only the board can call a general meeting. However, he also explained: "There is also a provision in the constitution for the membership. More than 50 per cent of the membership can ask the board through the secretary to call an extraordinary general meeting to discuss specific items, and only those items can be discussed at the meeting and nothing else."
"However, the 50 per cent can request a meeting from the secretary but the meeting will still have to be called by the board. According to the constitution, if 50 per cent request a meeting, it takes 30 days and if the board does not call the meeting, then the 50 per cent of the members can call the general meeting. Even at that meeting, the president can turn up and once he turns up, he has the right to chair the meeting. With the situation with the normalisation committee, at the moment the board has been replaced. So if the normalisation committee now wants to call an extraordinary general meeting they certainly can, but the chairman of the normalisation committee has to chair the meeting."
Downer, a former referee also made it clear that FIFA has only replaced the board and not the various committees, saying there is a belief that nothing can go on because of the appointment of the normalisation committee.
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"Constitution ?" I think they don't get it. FIFA don't care about your constitution. FIFA will tell you what to do or not. Not even the government where you live can tell Fifa what to do, yuh think they have time for your constituition ? Only the FIFA constitution matters.
:devil:
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If Wallace signed all those contracts without the board's approval then I was really wrong about him as a competent President. I thought he would've learned from his previous errors.
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If Wallace signed all those contracts without the board's approval then I was really wrong about him as a competent President. I thought he would've learned from his previous errors.
Pray tell. What were his previous errors ?
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If Wallace signed all those contracts without the board's approval then I was really wrong about him as a competent President. I thought he would've learned from his previous errors.
Pray tell. What were his previous errors ?
Well the Nike deal was a bit pre mature, eye-brows were raised with the soca warriors trademark resolution, there was some other thing, can't remember but along the way I still supported him and trusted he was right for the job but now his committee even questioning him for signing contracts without their approval. I thought transparency was a key component of this administration.
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Where was mr awai when DJW was crucifying football together with him accomplices dennis the mennace lawrence and big belly Jamal? these guys aren’t fooling anyone, they are all fifa moles pretending to care about football now, but when fatso had the country bend over a barrel getting hammered from every end how is it that there was no haste to suspend the federation.
the absolute worst federation in the history of this country was during the DJW admin, the bloke was a pure blight to football of all ages and gender losing out in all competitions, where were you then mr Micheal awai, where was your voice then? you all not fooling anyone with an ounce of sense so that you’re clear on that.
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If Wallace signed all those contracts without the board's approval then I was really wrong about him as a competent President. I thought he would've learned from his previous errors.
Pray tell. What were his previous errors ?
Well the Nike deal was a bit pre mature, eye-brows were raised with the soca warriors trademark resolution, there was some other thing, can't remember but along the way I still supported him and trusted he was right for the job but now his committee even questioning him for signing contracts without their approval. I thought transparency was a key component of this administration.
i could forgive the guy for that, there’s still room for improvement. but DJW never admit to wrong doing, in fact when caught he lied to cover his tracks. and I don’t think WW lied about the Nike deal, I believe it was fat boy the montagliani who blotched the deal in a desperate attempt to keep fatso in the game. I don’t know why fifa would go to these great lengths to destroy TT got all just to keep DJW relevant, I’m left scratching my head here, it just doesn’t make sense.
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Greene believes TTFA battle with FIFA is an eye opener for all members
By Neto Baptiste (Antigua Observer)
Former general secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), EP Chet Greene, has suggested that countries put laws in place to mitigate against bias and undue interference from international governing bodies in sports.
Greene made the suggestion while discussing the ongoing impasse between ousted president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFA) William Wallace and the sports international body FIFA.
“I think the time has come where nations will have to decide on the level of authority they give to FIFA with respect to its legal system. It is well and good to have the court of arbitration but I don’t think the court of arbitration can supersede the jurisdiction of independent sovereign states,” he said.
A FIFA panel chaired by its president Gianni Infantino removed Wallace and other senior officials on March 17, citing “extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt”.
Wallace had been in office since November of 2019, after winning a vote of local soccer officials against David John-Williams, who served a single four-year term.
“The way FIFA handled it by moving in and putting in place a committee to run the affairs of Trinidad football is challengeable. They may argue as they have done in other instances but again, the independent jurisdiction of Trinidad and Tobago and its governing of all activities in the nation, so does FIFA have that kind of authority. If Trinidad football principals are trying to challenge a matter involving the global authorities in FIFA, then is it right to say that FIFA will have its right or its way in this matter and that any other legal system will not have any say in the matter,” Greene said.
Greene, who is also president of the Antigua and Barbuda National Olympic Committee, is of the view that Wallace’s case was strong and that the current issue could set precedence going forward as to how similar maters are handled.
“Is Wallace wrong to say that FIFA and other international sports organisations have had an abusive relationship with the court of arbitration? Is it wrong to say that the process is not only lengthy but is cost prohibitive of small developing or emerging nations like ours, Trinidad included? These are real questions and I think it is forcing the international sports fraternity to relook some of its positions, to put in your constitutions that the court of arbitration is the final court of settling these disputes,” he said.
William Wallace had retained the services of Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle instructing them to take the matter to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). However, in late May the attorneys were instructed to withdraw the appeal before CAS fearing ‘institutional bias’.
Subsequently, the matter was taken to the Trinidad and Tobago High Court of Justice.
Since then, Wallace has come under increased pressure from his board following revelations relating to three contracts signed with Avec Sports, national coach Terry Fenwick and Ramesh Ramdhan.
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First breath of fresh air from the caribbean since this whole thing started, a lot of these cowards would rather concede to fifa that to stand up for what’s morally right. shame on The Whole region.
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First breath of fresh air from the caribbean since this whole thing started, a lot of these cowards would rather concede to fifa that to stand up for what’s morally right. shame on The Whole region.
:applause: :salute:
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Normalisation Committee seeks legal advice on TTFA contracts.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Nigel Romano, one of three members of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee has said his committee is seeking legal advice to treat with the contracts signed by former president William Wallace, the head of the United T&T Football Association, which was done without the approval from the Board of Directors of the T&TFA.
In a news release on Wednesday, Wallace admitted to making mistakes in signing a US$20,000 contracts for senior national football coach Terry Fenwick: a US$25 million kit deal with UK sportswear supplier Avec Sports: a two-year contract with general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan when the Board agreed to a one-year deal: and another US$20, 000 deal for marketing representative Peter Miller whom he credits for the bulk of the finances generated by his association during their short stint.
His actions was met with condemnation from his own United TTFA group which comprised Keith Look Loy, a former TTFA Technical Committee chairman, North Zone Football Association (NFA) president Anthony Harford and former TTFA vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip.
However, on Monday, Romano responding to the latest TTFA developments said, "We will take legal advice on that and then act on that advice."
On June 2, Romano told Guardian Media Sports that the committee had been engaged in talks with Avec Sports to gain value for money. He also promised that talks would have taken place with other sponsors.
Meanwhile, the staff and coaches of the football association have not been paid for four months and it is uncertain when they will get salaries. Romano said, "The committee is making progress concerning this matter, but it is being done slowly but surely."
He said, the Normalisation is faced with obstacles in its way: "If the TTFA put all these obstacles in our path, it takes time to get around all the obstacles, while making sure that the money gets to the staff and not to creditors," he explained.
The former banker who was appointed alongside his chairman Robert Hadad, a director at the HADCO Group of Companies and Attorney Judy Daniel on the normalisation committee, said they have been working with a contingency plan to pay the staff but was not willing to say what it is.
The TTFA staff have been kept abreast with the setbacks being faced by the Normalsiation Committee.
Romano said that funds from the FIFA must not be put at risk.
The normalisation committee which was appointed on March 27, has been in a legal battle with the TTFA for the right to claim the association's bank accounts and letterhead.
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Dear editor: Football dreams of our youth are bigger than Fifa/TTFA; gov’t should intervene.
Wired868.com.
“[…] The continuing impasse—aggravated by the challenges of Covid-19—could effectively jettison the hopes and aspirations of thousands of young people throughout Trinidad and Tobago to improve their lives and their livelihood through football.
“[…] Now, with their dreams deferred, the youngsters could easily fall prey to the crime-lord lobbyists who are increasingly on the lookout for the idle and the frustrated to plunge their filthy and bloody hooks into…”
In the following letter to the editor, veteran journalist Errol Pilgrim suggests why the Trinidad and Tobago government cannot afford to sit on its hands while the TTFA and Fifa lock horns:
The protracted dispute between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and football’s international governing body, Fifa, will have a profoundly adverse effect on the lives of thousands of young people in Trinidad and Tobago as long as the dispute remains unresolved.
For this reason, the government must end its hands-off approach to the impasse before the national damage becomes irreparable.
It is obvious that the approach taken by the government has been in justifiable respect for Fifa statutes that frown on government interference in association football. But while it is mandated to govern world footballing activities, Fifa has absolutely no jurisdiction or dominion over the lives of the people in countries with associations under its control. That job is exclusive to the governments involved.
The way is therefore clear for government ministries such as those responsible for Sports and Youth Affairs and Social Development and Family Services to get involved—if only to seek to narrow the widening divide between the warring parties with a view to bringing an urgent and expeditious end to their differences.
The impasse between TTFA and Fifa has been ongoing since 17 March 2020.
On that day, in a decision reeking of colonial coercion, Fifa unilaterally removed the constitutionally elected executive of the TTFA and replaced it with a so-called normalisation committee headed by a local businessman.
The action appeared to have been more deeply rooted in Fifa’s succession politics than in its concerns about the parlous financial affairs of TTFA—a regrettable situation that did not suddenly arise in 2020.
Since 2017, the increasingly sad state of TTFA’s accounts was reflected in a consistent downward plunge of Trinidad and Tobago’s football, both in respect of its men’s and women’s incarnations, that signalled certain disaster. And though repeated requests were made between 2017 and 2019 for a Fifa intervention, the world body chose to do absolutely nothing at that time.
It is not for any government intercession to seek to determine the reason for Fifa’s sudden about-face in 2020 and whether or not the deposition of the duly elected TTFA executive may have had little or no bearing on integrity and fair play.
What the government’s concern should be more focused upon is that the continuing impasse—aggravated by the challenges of Covid-19—could effectively jettison the hopes and aspirations of thousands of young people throughout Trinidad and Tobago to improve their lives and their livelihood through football.
As the cheapest of international sports, requiring just a ball and the space to kick it around, football has traditionally attracted young people in the most marginalised communities in countries where the game is played.
With the imperative Covid lock-down and the TTFA/Fifa impasse, football remains in a moribund state in Trinidad and Tobago, delivering a potential death-blow to the discipline, production and tolerance that many vulnerable youngsters have had to employ to advance their football dreams.
Now, with their dreams deferred, the youngsters could easily fall prey to the crime-lord lobbyists who are increasingly on the lookout for the idle and the frustrated to plunge their filthy and bloody hooks into.
Compare this deflated state of football to the two eras, in 1989 and 2006, when the game actually ran the affairs of Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1989, our ambitious aspirations to compete in the 1990 World Cup in Italy were foiled by a single goal from the United States in a frantic Port of Spain match. In 2006, football again ascended to a state of overall national prominence when Trinidad and Tobago finally qualified as the smallest and least populated country to participate in a World Cup, this time held in Germany.
Particularly in respect of the Trinidad and Tobago experience, football has been one of the most common vehicles for financial success in the world. With its relatively minute population, this country has been in the forefront of the ongoing process that involves taking talented youngsters from all corners of the globe and turning them into wealthy athletes in affluent clubs in Europe and the United States.
Among the many success stories of youngsters realising such football dreams is the legend of Dwight Yorke.
Growing up in extreme poverty in Tobago, Dwight was the eighth of nine children in his family. The entire Yorke family lived in a humble two-bedroom house in Canaan. But Dwight was able to escape his family’s destitute circumstances and amass enviable quantities of wealth through his considerable football skills.
Now destined to become one of the few black football coaches in the English Premier League, Dwight Yorke would eventually seek to give back as much as possible following his escape from poverty.
The fantasy-like football sagas of people like Yorke, Russell Latapy and Shaka Hislop have fed the hopes and dreams of many youngsters whose parents appreciate the ability of sports facilities to attract children to school and keep them there.
And studies show that such youngsters tend to significantly improve their discipline and their concentration as well as their academic performance.
In pre-Covid 2019 when school football was flourishing, two past pupils of Trinity College East became the latest in an appreciable list of students to access football scholarships in the United States.
Christian Ransome was accepted into Clayton State University, Atlanta, Georgia, to pursue General Business and Administration and Randy Jackson was accepted into Florida National University, to study Business Administration.
Earlier, four aspiring young footballers also set out to various American universities to take up full scholarships. The four players came from secondary schools across the east-west corridor and played major roles for their respective schools in the Secondary School Football League (SSFL).
Moreover, our young people have also been accessing scholarships in a number of sporting disciplines, including football, that are offered by the University of the West Indies and the University of Trinidad and Tobago. And, as in the case of Dwight Yorke and others, have been prized by talent scouts from all over the globe.
Today, all of the social progress that football inspires for our young people is in peril because of a prolonged row by some old people across different sides of the Atlantic, who may have never even played the game nor are any longer able to play it.
It is critical for the government to intervene, if only to tangibly restore in the young people of the sovereign state of Trinidad and Tobago the dreams that Fifa and TTFA now stand the chance of effectively cancelling.
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Date set for TTFA/FIFA hearing
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
KICK-OFF is July 29 for first submissions as to whether the Trinidad and Tobago Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear the claim brought by former executives of the TTFA against football’s governing body, FIFA. An oral submission will be made before local justice Carol Gobin to determine whether the local court is the right place to decide the dispute.
The former TTFA executives—deposed president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were headed for legal battle in the T&T high court, challenging FIFA’S decision to replace them with a normalisation committee headed by local businessman Robert Hadad.
According to FIFA’s statutes, member Associations are forbidden to challenge it in a local court and must instead resolve issues in the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport. FIFA contends that the TTFA accepted its statutes when it joined FIFA in 1964.
However, the TTFA maintains it was formed by a constitutional act of the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and that it is their sovereign right to take the matter to court, and that right supersedes any claim.
The local firm of M. Hamel-Smith & Company, represented by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith and Cherie Gopie, is acting on behalf of FIFA while Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle, will represent the ousted TTFA executives.
“Two or three weeks ago now, FIFA entered an application essentially challenging the jurisdiction of the court. We had until Friday gone to file TTFA affidavits in response. Thereafter, there are two weeks for FIFA’S lawyers to file their submissions; after that, a further two weeks for us, the TTFA lawyers, to file their submissions,” Gayle stated.
The former TTFA executives are seeking a declaration, through the local courts, that FIFA’s decision to remove them from office on March 17, 2020 is null and void. They also sought an injunction preventing FIFA and/or its agents from interfering in the day-to-day management of the TTFA, including the its bank accounts and property. However, Hamil Smith countered with FIFA’s own injunction application, citing FIFA interests and challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter.
Despite the impending hearing, and maintaining confidence in the strength of their case, the TTFA legal team has still left the door open for a mediated solution to the impasse.
“There has been some initial exchange of courtesies between lead counsels for both sides. I am hopeful that those initial professional courtesies will be able to develop into something resembling formal mediation,” said Gayle.
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Rowley willing to talk with FIFA, TTFA.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).
THE PRIME Minister is intent on removing turmoil from local football.
Dr Rowley plans to approach FIFA as a mediator in an attempt to bring resolve to the current impasse between the TT Football Federation (TTFA) and the sport’s global governing body.
Rowley made these remarks during his address at Saturday’s opening of the Point Fortin Hospital. He believes the present state of local football and its administration is directly hampering the development of our nation’s youth.
“I give you the commitment today that I would try again to talk with FIFA and the TTFA to see if there’s a possibility of having the current arrangement pass us by or some kind of arrangement which can derive that which allows our youngsters to enjoy the beautiful game. What exists now cannot be allowed to continue because it is a serious threat to the well-being of our young people,” he said.
Since March, then-TTFA president William Wallace and his administration was removed from the helm of local football, by FIFA, after just four months in charge. FIFA claim this action was taken following an audit of the local association which unveiled a high risk of insolvency and major debt.
Following this decision, the Gianni Infantino-led fraternity then appointed a normalisation committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad to run the TTFA’s daily affairs and establish a debt repayment plan.
TTFA has since filed a lawsuit in the local High Court against FIFA preventing them FIFA from interfering or seeking to override the “fair and transparent democratic processes of the TTFA and/or preventing them from removing the executive of duly elected officers from office.
Rowley added, “Our football is in some aspect of turmoil at the moment and it would not and should not be allowed to continue. The Minister of Sport (Shamfa Cudjoe) and I have been looking at this very gingerly, hoping that we would come to a place very quickly where the difficulties might be overcome. They might not disappear but we need a working relationship.”
In the primary stages of the dilemma between the two football entities, Rowley contacted Infantino in an early attempt at quelling the situation. When the matter was put before the courts by TTFA, Rowley pulled back.
“I put a call through to the head of FIFA who I am in a good relationship with. But then I cancelled it because the conversation might not have been appropriate. Because the matter swiftly turned into a legal matter, the government kept out of it. There were those who turned to the government to intervene. It is not something the government can just jump in to,” he said.
At the launch of the Home of Football in Couva in November 2019, under then TTFA president David John-Williams, Infantino and Rowley were present for the official opening. The Prime Minister was impressed with the spanking new facility and was made to believe football was heading in the right direction.
However, after the administrative blunders and mudslinging between FIFA and TTFA over the past four months, Rowley’s has now rescinded his expectations.
“The administrations seem to have come apart. The government of T&T did in fact partner with FIFA. The government gave land (for Home of Football) and a commitment. FIFA gave money and a commitment to pay attention to improving football in TT. The opposite seemed to have happened,” Rowley declared.
After Rowley’s announcement to serve as an intermediary, former TTFA technical director Keith Look Loy was appreciative of such a move. Although Look Loy still believes FIFA should have held talks with the now-removed executive before disbanding the administration, he believes government involvement may be a step in the right direction.
“I see this as a welcome and overdue development. The government has held a standoffish position on this for the past four months. If they could engineer talks between FIFA’s representatives and the duly elected officers of the TTFA to see how we could resolve whatever issues there may be, that must be a welcome development. We are willing to sit with FIFA to sit and discuss all matters,” he said.
RELATED NEWS
PM fears T&T football become an outcast.
By Rachael Thompson-King (Guardian).
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley does not want to give any false hopes when he suggested on Saturday that his government is willing to step in and assist in the ongoing impasse between the former executive of T&T Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA, the governing body of football but is unwilling to chance T&T becoming an outcast in football.
"One thing we cannot risk or cannot have as the outcome is T&T football becoming a pariah in FIFA," said Dr Rowley in an interview yesterday on i95 fm Isports Radio Show with Andre Baptiste. He was following up on comments he made during Saturday's opening of the Point Fortin Hospital where he stated that he was ready to assist.
"You see we already have an era where we at the management level, at the highest level in FIFA, we have generated pariahs in football and that has damaged us so now we are in a situation what needs to be corrected very quickly.
"So I as government spokesperson along with the Minister (of Sport) would do nothing to worsen the situation for persons to accuse us of having governmental involvement and therefore certain outcomes should follow. We really want things to happen positively but we have to be very careful that any kind of request doesn't worsen the situation and all I'm hoping is that the people from the Normalisation Committee and the TTFA see the big objective and stay true to that."
The normalisation committee to which the PM is referring to was appointed on March 27, is headed by chairman Robert Hadad, a director at the HADCO Group of Companies and includes Attorney Judy Daniel and former banker Nigel Romano.
On March 17, FIFA removed William Wallace, who was elected president to replace David John-Williams at the TTFA annual general meeting (AGM) on November 24, 2019, citing a number of administrative concerns. Wallace's three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip were also removed.
"Whatever role the government could play, the government would be willing to play but that role is not clear at this point," said Dr Rowley.
"One, we are in a cooperative arrangement with FIFA in trying to help T&T's football, there is evidence of that. However, the management of our football seems to have fallen apart at our level from FIFA down to the TTFA. There's an impasse which I was about to talk about with FIFA when the matter turned quickly to a legal dispute."
He admitted that there is little that his government can do in intervening and fixing things but is open to having talks without prejudice.
"What I'm suggesting is that some type of contact, an all-party contact, where good sense will prevail by renewing their positions and allowing the main objective to take place which is football to progress and the young people get to play the sport," he said.
The Prime Minister explained that, "However, there is a limitation to what the government of the Minister can do here because one of the problems with this situation is that all of us know who played football, international football through FIFA has no rule for government involvement in disputes so we as a government can't put ourselves as part of the dispute because we might even worsen the situation."
He went on to say that he is relying on the people at both ends at FIFA and at TTFA to see what is going to happen to football here in T&T.
He said, "The main thing is that if we don't get this impasse clarified very quickly, it will destroy the aspirations of young people for whom football is such a great magnet - a positive magnet. We need to get people playing the game and aspiring to move up in the age-group competitions."
However, once it remains legal, it means that the government will remain a bystander.
"What the government can do is encourage," said Dr Rowley.
He concluded, "Tens of thousands of young men and young women are almost traumatised by what is happening with football. The government has a duty to speak for them or on their behalf."
The TTFA had appealed FIFA's decision to remove them at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland in April but withdrew its matter claiming that CAS was biased since it appeared to favour FIFA by asking the TTFA to pay the total fees stated to commence the matter.
The matter is now in the T&T High Court and is expected to be heard on July 29.
The TTFA is seeking among other issues to have the court declare that the Normalisation Committee has no jurisdiction in managing T&T football and that FIFA cannot violate T&T sovereign rights by removing a democratically elected executive.
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Most welcome: Wallace open to Government input
By Garth Wattley (T&T Express)
Getting nowhere so far with world governing body FIFA, embattled Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president William Wallace is appreciative of Government’s willingness to assist in ending the current impasse.
On Saturday in Point Fortin, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he was willing to, “talk with FIFA and to talk with the TTFA, to see if there is a possibility of having the current arrangement pass us by, or some kind of arrangement can be arrived at which would allow our youngsters to enjoy the beautiful game.”
Since March 17, Wallace and his executive have been sidelined after FIFA set up a Normalisation Committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad to run local football. Having first tried to have their authority re-established by going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, Wallace and his vice-presidents have now turned to the local High Court seeking redress.
However, the TTFA president is open to Government assistance in the matter.
”It’s a welcome comment,” Wallace told the Express yesterday.
He explained why: “It is a matter that we have been trying to settle in mediation. We have tried four times to communicate (with FIFA) to try to settle the matter through mediation, unsuccessfully. If the Prime Minister is also talking mediation, he is speaking the same language we are speaking. I hope that it can bear some fruit.”
Asked whether he was surprised at the Government’s offer, Wallace said:“Based on how FIFA views Government interference, I could understand the position of the Government of not jumping in just like that. But if there comes a time when it can settled in an amicable way, then I welcome that.”
Expanding on his comments yesterday, PM Rowley stressed the limited role Government was prepared to play.
“Once it remains legal, and there is a legal rangatanga or wrangle between the TTFA and the FIFA, it means that the Government is going to be a bystander,” he said in an interview on radio station I95FM yesterday.
However, he added:”I would like to talk to anybody who is prepared to talk to the Government without prejudice, and if the Government can play some role as accepted by all parties, then the Government should be willing to that.
The Prime Minister re-stated his main concerns.
“One thing we cannot risk is Trinidad and Tobago becoming a pariah in FIFA...The one chance I’m not going to take is to try to push the Government into the confusion and end up worsening it.”
He added:”We are looking at it purely from the standpoint of our responsibility for our young people. There are tens of thousands of young men and young women who are right now almost traumatised by what is happening in football, and the Government has a duty to speak for them and on their behalf...
“Whatever role the Government could play, the Government would be willing to play, but that role is not clear at this point in time, that’s why we need to feel out the parties, see what their positions are and to see whether there is any way that a government-identified - I don’t want to use the word mediator - but a Government concern could be taken into account by the parties involved.”
Asked how he saw Government playing a role in the dispute, Wallace said:”If it’s just to bring the two parties together — the discussion will have to be between the two parties — if it’s just to bring the two together, then it is an effort that has some value in it.”
The decision of the “United TTFA” group to take the matter against FIFA to the local court has been questioned by some football personalities. But asked yesterday if he still has the backing of the TTFA’s membership in pursuing the court action, Wallace said: “Definitely I do. I have been in touch and have been in touch with them all along, and they are encouraging us to continue this battle.”
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Wallace: Only FIFA, the courts can determine now.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
William Wallace, president of the ousted United T&T Football Association believes it's only football's world governing body- the FIFA or the courts can determine whether his organisation will regain governance of T&T football, and or prevent the country from being banned.
Wallace was responding to a commend by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Saturday, that government was willing to talk to both the United TTFA and the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee which replaced it in March.
"Nothing can be done now," Wallace said on Monday. He further stated, "Who does the Prime Minister want to talk to, the normalisation committee or the FIFA."
Rowley, at the opening of the Point Fortin Hospital and later on Andre Baptiste's I95fm programme on Sunday, said while he did not want to give anyone any false hope by the government's desire to step in, he was not willing to chance the country becoming an outcast in football and called on both parties to work in the interest of the sport.
Wallace, who only a few hours earlier met with the executive of the Secondary Schools Football League to chart the way forward for this year's SSFL season, said "I don't know who are the parties he wants to talk to, that's the point. We have a matter before the courts and there is not much that can come out from it. If FIFA wants to talk to us, we are willing to talk. It's FIFA we reached out to for mediation and to talk, so if they want to talk, we will talk, there is no comment beyond that."
The local football boss said Rowley and government desire to talk cannot even be a consideration right now: "Any mediation that has to take place has to be between the legal representative of the FIFA and ourselves. We have reached out four times already to the FIFA in that regards." He also told Guardian Media Sports that the court will also have to decide on whether a request by the FIFA to have the matter settled in the CAS on July 29."
Wallace said his organisation has made four attempts at mediation with the FIFA and has received no response to date. Wallace's team of Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Joseph Sam Phillip and himself, was removed on March 17 after being elected to office on November 24, 2019, after, a FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago in February found extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.
Wallace and his team have since challenged the decision of the FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland in April but then withdrew their appeal for what Wallace described as institutional bias by CAS against the TTFA. In June the United TTFA agreed to take the matter to the Trinidad and Tobago High Court.
Wallace also took offence to the perception that the country will be banned and asked where did he get that from. "That is something people have been talking about all the time, I don't know why they are arriving at that position. Who wants T&T football to be banned? nobody wants that."
Asked whether there is a possibility the country can be banned for their challenge of the FIFA, Wallace said, "I don't know. I don't know the outcome, we will just have to wait and see how that develops.
However, FIFA said, “The removal of the Normalization Committee before appropriate controls, policies, and procedures are in place at the TTFA will not only jeopardise the achievements to date and reintroduce the threats to the solvency of the TTFA, but it will be a disincentive to FIFA to provide any further funding to the TTFA given the absence of appropriate controls.”
Contacted yesterday, Nigel Romano, a member of the normalisation committee, along with chairman Robert Hadad and Judy Daniel, said any help the Prime Minister can provide at this time will be appreciated. "We are working," Romano said.
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FIFA agrees to mediation with TTFA
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)
FIFA agreed, on Monday, to settle its dispute with the former TT Football Association (TTFA) executive led by ousted president William Wallace out of court.
Wallace and his executive (deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip), as well as United TTFA members Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford, are challenging FIFA’s decision on March 17 to remove the TTFA executive and implement a normalisation committee (comprising head Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano).
On May 18, the former TTFA executive decided to take the matter to the TT High Court, instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), since they felt they would not get a fair hearing at the Switzerland-based CAS.
FIFA challenged the ousted TTFA executive’s move to have the case heard at the High Court, and the court set a date of July 29 to decide on the matter.
But Look Loy said, “On June 22, our lawyers (Matthew Gayle, Dr Emir Crowne, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul) wrote to theirs (Christopher Hamel-Smith, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie) proposing mediation.
He said on the fourth approach, on Monday, the other side agreed.
Look Loy said, “This is a potentially positive development. It implicitly offers recognition by FIFA of the democratically elected TTFA leadership, and it potentially opens the way for productive talks between equals.
“The lawyers will thrash out the mechanics of the process over the next (few) days, and we very much anticipate the talks themselves.”
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Best news in some time...l hope the fruit will be realized
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Welcome news indeed , I really believe this should have been the more mature approach by Fifa all along in order to achieve respectfully the objectives for both parties .... ( FIFA / TTFA )..! It is our wish that both Fifa and the ttfa seize this moment productively for the betterment of all involved . Best wishes to both parties . Together everyone achieve more .
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ah light....?
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I guess no light guys, mediation talks are of.
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The wind of disenchantment just blew out my candle
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FIFA blanks mediation with United TTFA
T&T Guardian
Four days after T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he was willing to talk to FIFA, to assist in the impasse involving the world governing body for football - FIFA and T&T Football Association (TTFA), FIFA has responded to the ongoing court matter which the TTFA has lodged in the local courts.
According to the release on Tuesday from Zurich, Switzerland: "FIFA does not, and will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in T&T to decide on the legality of the appointment of the Normalisation Committee currently appointed to run football in the territory.
"For the avoidance of doubt, FIFA only recognises the authority and jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in these matters. Any dispute regarding the appointment of a Normalisation Committee falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the CAS, and CAS alone.
"United TTFA" itself previously went to CAS and then unilaterally withdrew from the CAS process.
"For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the mediation, FIFA previously agreed to with "United TTFA", would never have dealt with the legality of the appointment of the Normalisation Committee and would only have covered some costs related issues. This mediation will not go ahead now in any event, owing to the failure of the lawyers of "United TTFA" to keep the matter confidential, in line with their professional and ethical obligations."
FIFA's release yesterday makes it clear that the promised mediation, which was agreed to between parties, has been withdrawn because of a breach of confidentiality by the United TTFA lawyers who have made the agreement public via the media.
The media report stated that FIFA agreed on Monday, to settle its dispute with the former TTFA executive led by ousted president William Wallace and his three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, out of court.
On May 18, the United TTFA team of Wallace, Taylor, Joseph-Warrick, Phillip, former technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy and North Zone Football president Anthony Harford, moved their appeal of FIFA’s decision to remove the elected executive from office on March 17, and challenge the matter in the T&T High court.
On March 27, FIFA implemented a Normalisation Committee with businessman Robert Hadad as chairman and attorney Judy Daniel and former banker Nigel Romano to run and manage the affairs of the local sports.
On Monday, following the Prime Minister offer to help in the impasse, former president William said he believes it's only football's world governing body, FIFA or the courts, can determine whether his organisation will regain governance of T&T football, and or prevent the country from being banned.
"Nothing can be done now," Wallace said on Monday. He further stated, "Who does the Prime Minister want to talk to, the Normalisation Committee or the FIFA."
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Serves them right! trinis are too bloody pushy and talkative especially the hungry media. had they kept their pie holes shut on both sides and work out a deal then after a settlement ran to the media, then it would have been better. I really can’t anymore with these people!
why can’t a big f**king bolt could just hit fifa head quarters as well as all those world parasitic powers and just wipe them off the bloody map? come on world, why the f**k do people always have to make life so blasted difficult? Grrrrrrrrrrr!!
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BTW this is all gamesmanship by fifa, and wallace and company should go for broke with their court dispute. how is it that one day you could be willing to negotiate and the next day change your minds over a leaked media report, come on infantino who are you fooling?
You people are very lucky I don’t have any power to exact change, because if it was up to me, you and your whole cabal would cease to exist in an instant, that’s how much I despise abusers of power.
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United TTFA lawyer upset by FIFA stance.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
TT Football Association (TTFA) lawyer Matthew Gayle said they made a request to FIFA that all matters between the parties would be resolved through mediation, so it came as a shock when FIFA said the mediation it agreed to previously had nothing to do with the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee.
On Monday, it was revealed that FIFA would consider mediation to resolve the matter regarding their decision to appoint a normalisation committee on March 17 to run T&T football, replacing the TTFA executive.
However, a statement by FIFA on Tuesday sent to the media, said, “For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the mediation FIFA previously agreed to with United TTFA would never have dealt with the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee and would only have covered some costs related issues. This mediation will not go ahead now in any event, owing to the failure of the lawyers of United TTFA to keep the matter confidential, in line with their professional and ethical obligations.”
Gayle is representing the former TTFA executive along with Dr Emir Crowne, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul.
On the issue where mediation would only be used for cost-related issues, Gayle told Newsday, “We have been asking FIFA to mediate on the entirety of the dispute. In fact, before any court proceedings were filed that was the request and that was our position that mediation is the best way to resolve all of the outstanding issues between the parties.
“As for that issue of cost, I am not really sure what FIFA is talking about.”
Gayle was not happy that FIFA chose to send a letter to the media. “Obviously when parties agree to take a particular position including to take part in mediation one would expect that a decision to pull out for whatever reason would be communicated by their counsel and not by way of an international press release.”
He also said the way the release was written could destroy the character of the TTFA lawyers. “One would also expect that it would be done in a way that was respectful and courteous and doesn’t seek to unnecessarily attack the professional character of the lawyers involved, who at the end of the day are just doing their job. To see this statement in the way we did (it is) disappointing.”
FIFA removed TTFA president William Wallace and executive members Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, along with United TTFA members Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford.
On May 18, the former TTFA executive decided to take the matter to the T&T High Court, instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), since they felt they would not get a fair hearing at the Switzerland-based CAS.
FIFA challenged the ousted TTFA executive’s move to have the case heard at the High Court, and the court set a date of July 29 to decide on the matter.
Gayle said the court date at the end of July is still on. “As far as I am concerned the deadline that was set by the court for the filing of submissions must be kept and the hearing must go forward.”
FIFA’s statement on Tuesday said, “FIFA does not, and will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in T&T to decide on the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee currently appointed to run football in the territory.
“For the avoidance of doubt, FIFA only recognises the authority and jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in these matters. Any dispute regarding the appointment of a normalisation committee falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the CAS, and CAS alone.”
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It's the second instance of a FIFA statement intended at besmirching the reputation of counsel and/or attacking them personally. Have no doubts: it is a direct reflection of what Gianni Infantino sought to have communicated and of his modus operandi, thought and psyche, particularly in battle.
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The reasons for not wanting public acknowledgement of the mediation are grounded on political calculus and deniability of occurrence. Had the talks stalled, FIFA could have walked away without the global football community having been clued in to their occurrence and FIFA's apparent concession of its stance.
Had the talks been successful, the outcome could have been presented without having to center on the process that produced the positive outcome. There is also the issue of not wishing to appear to have a weakened hand or compromised position. And there is also the concern of not wanting every Tom, Dick and Harry of a football federation advocating for mediation as an alternative recourse circumventing the installation of a NC. At the core, this is also why the subject matter of the mediation has been presented narrowly by FIFA.
Cast these considerations against the sense of victory felt by United TTFA upon learning that mediation was on the table. Clearly United TTFA was the more incentivized of the parties to make the public aware of the mediation, especially after the many voices in opposition that have been decrying United TTFA for having the temerity to challenge the Big House.
Finally, as much as it would be tempting to believe the Honourable Prime Minister is a prophet, once he made a statement on mediation, mediation already was imminently and eminently on the table through back channel conversations. There would have been no lack of clarity or certainty as to what was to be mediated. Maybe going forward someone will think of a pre-mediation agreement (although there is a disincentive in actually having one reduced to writing should it actually see the light of day).
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Crowne wonders: Was mediation proposal a ‘game’?
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).
UNITED TT Football Association (TTFA) lawyer Dr Emir Crowne says a media release issued by FIFA, on Tuesday, is “misleading on several fronts.” He is now wondering if the world-governing body for football “ever had the intention” of mediating the ongoing dispute or if it was “all merely a game.”
On Monday, Crowne and TTFA technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy confirmed to Newsday that FIFA agreed on mediation to resolve the matter regarding its decision to appoint a normalisation committee on March 17 to run T&T football, replacing the TTFA executive (president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip).
But on Tuesday, FIFA sent a media release saying the mediation will “not go ahead now in any event, owing to the failure of the lawyers of United TTFA to keep the matter confidential, in line with their professional and ethical obligations.”
It added, “For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the mediation FIFA previously agreed to with United TTFA would never have dealt with the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee and would only have covered some costs related issues.
“For the avoidance of doubt, FIFA only recognises the authority and jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in these matters. Any dispute regarding the appointment of a normalisation committee falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the CAS, and CAS alone.”
Crowne is representing the former TTFA executive along with Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul.
On May 18, the former TTFA executive took the matter to the T&T High Court, instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). They felt they would not get a fair hearing at the Switzerland-based CAS.
FIFA challenged this, and the High Court set a date of July 29 to decide on the matter.
Speaking with Newsday on Friday morning, Crowne said, “I feel compelled to respond to it. First, FIFA's statement that it ‘will never’ accept the jurisdiction of the T&T courts is striking, particularly since the issue of jurisdiction is - in fact - being argued later this month."
He said FIFA's statement that mediation “would only have covered some costs related issues” is false.
“The TTFA never agreed to any such narrowed scope. In fact, one wonders what ‘costs related issues’ FIFA is even speaking about? No costs have arisen in the local proceedings to date, so how could the TTFA even agree to such a narrow scope?”
He said no other details were given to media other than the fact that mediation was agreed upon.
“Surely FIFA cannot take the position that merely confirming the fact of mediation is a breach of confidence?”
He also commented on an article by an online blog that, he said, “has laid the blame solely at his feet."
Crowne said, "The blogger undoubtedly has his own agenda. But the blog post itself, I must say, is malicious and irresponsible. The blogger appears more interested in sensationalism, than any semblance of fair and balanced writing, which is unfortunate."
He said the next step is the hearing of the jurisdiction at the end of the month.
RELATED NEWS
Fifa blames Crowne for withdrawing from TTFA mediation talks, Look Loy: Fifa is petrified.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Fifa announced today that it has withdrawn from proposed mediation talks with the ‘United TTFA’ and blamed its decision on the ‘failure’ of the latter’s attorneys ‘to keep the matter confidential’.
Yesterday, Fifa, for the first time since 17 March, suggested that it was ready to talk to besieged TTFA president William Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Philip.
The move followed repeated requests for mediation from Wallace’s team and a recent public appeal for the same by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
Within hours, TTFA attorney Dr Emir Crowne was on TV6 to share the update with the public. And, barely a day later, Fifa said it was again walking away from the negotiating table.
“This mediation will not go ahead now in any event,” stated a release from Fifa, “owing to the failure of the lawyers of ‘United TTFA’ to keep the matter confidential—in line with their professional and ethical obligations.”
The TTFA is represented legally by Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Crowne of the New City Chambers while Fifa retained attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co.
Fifa is headed by president Gianni Infantino, who also leads the Bureau of the Fifa Council. On 17 March, the Bureau voted to replace Wallace and other elected officials with a normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad.
Wallace and his vice-presidents have resisted Infantino in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and, subsequently, in the local High Court.
Wired868 did not receive a response from Crowne or Gayle on Fifa’s decision to scupper talks up to the time of publication.
A Trinidad Newsday article last night quoted United TTFA member Keith Look Loy as suggesting that Fifa’s agreement to talk ‘implicitly offers recognition by Fifa of the democratically elected TTFA leadership, and it potentially opens the way for productive talk between equals’.
However, the Fifa statement today, which was unsigned, insisted that the governing body still does not recognise Wallace as TTFA president and had no intention of disbanding its own normalisation committee.
“For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the mediation Fifa previously agreed to with ‘United TTFA’ would never have dealt with the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee,” stated Fifa, “and would only have covered some costs related issues.”
Look Loy, who is a member of the TTFA Board and president of the Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL), fired back that if Fifa really wanted to talk about costs, then the United TTFA is happy not to have wasted its time.
“If that is their approach, then Fifa is just playing a game and they are saving us time and additional expense,” Look Loy told Wired868. “When our lawyers wrote to them, we thought we were discussing mediation on the substantiative issue, which is the appointment of the normalisation committee. We were willing to compromise and find a way to work with them, once they recognised our jurisdiction.
“But in their usual arrogant, high handed manner, they are saying they were only ever going to talk about costs. So onward to the court!”
Had the leaking of Fifa’s inclination to talk to Wallace and his vice-presidents embarrassed the governing body and put its own normalisation committee, headed by businessman Robert Hadad, in an awkward position?
Was Fifa indulging in time wasting? Or did Fifa believe that Wallace’s resolve had weakened and he would be willing to drop the case and walk—once there was no financial loss attached to doing so?
Wired868 can confirm that Crowne reached out to the Fifa attorneys for help in ‘resolving the matter through mediation’. At no time did either party suggest that discussions would be limited to costs or anything else.
There was also an informal agreement that both sides would request an adjournment to their legal case so as to further pursue mediation, once necessary.
The two parties are due to meet in the High Court on 29 July, when Fifa will push for the case to be moved from Trinidad and back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Fifa itself is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Look Loy said Fifa is terrified of their court date, which he feels can strike a blow at the governing body’s ability to unilaterally unseat properly elected officials.
“I believe Fifa is petrified about the possibility of the local court upholding this case, which will undermine the Fifa/CAS normalisation committee system and culture,” said Look Loy. “Every national association across the globe would be taking note of that decision and it will undermine Fifa’s untrammelled power to implement a committee with no set guidelines, which allows it to do whatever Fifa wants for how long it wants; that is an arbitrary use of power.
“At the moment, there are no definite conditions under which a normalisation committee could and should be imposed, or time limits on its exercise of authority. But onwards to the court—no problem.”
Fifa, the largest single sport body in the world, insisted that, although the TTFA is formed by an Act of Parliament, it would not accept the direction of the Trinidad and Tobago courts in its handling of the local association.
“Fifa does not, and will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in Trinidad and Tobago to decide on the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee currently appointed to run football in the territory,” stated the Fifa statement. “For the avoidance of doubt, Fifa only recognises the authority and jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in these matters.
“Any dispute regarding the appointment of a normalisation committee falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the CAS—and CAS alone. ‘United TTFA’ itself previously went to CAS and then unilaterally withdrew from the CAS process.”
Fifa’s insistence on referring to its case as a matter against the ‘United TTFA’ rather than the TTFA was itself pointed.
Once more, the tussle between Wallace and Infantino is heading for court.
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A little perspective on CAS as an arbitrator body d la liga president expressed a lack of confidence in their decision making after e Man City decision (overturning EUFA ban).
Interesting
LaLiga chief blasts CAS after Man City's European ban is overturned via @Onefootball. Read it here:
https://1.ftb.al/Q5Ns8UVu57
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Judge Gobin reserves TTFA decision for August 13.
By Derek Achong (Guardian).
A group of former T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive officers, is expected to find out whether they can pursue their lawsuit over FIFA’s controversial decision to remove and replace them with a normalisation committee, on August 13.
After a lengthy virtual hearing on Wednesday, High Court Judge Carol Gobin reserved her decision on an application brought by FIFA to strike out or stay the lawsuit brought by former TTFA president William Wallace and his executive team.
Presenting submissions on FIFA’s behalf, Senior Counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith repeatedly stated that the local High Court does not have jurisdiction to entertain the lawsuit as the legislation which established the TTFA and the organisation’s constitution states that such disputes should be resolved through arbitration.
Hamel-Smith suggested that the clauses could have been removed from the constitution if the TTFA desired but were not.
Hamel-Smith also rejected Wallace and his colleagues’ complaints about the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which like FIFA is based in Switzerland and is the arbitration body identified by it (FIFA) for such disputes.
Referring to claims that the CAS is biased based on its failure to require FIFA to cover half of the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) in costs associated with the appeal to it, Hamel-Smith noted that it (CAS) was merely stating FIFA’s long-standing policy in all cases involving it.
Hamel-Smith stated that while Wallace and his team could have applied for legal aid to cover the full cost of the appeal, as required under the Swiss-court’s rules, they did not.
“You may disagree with the decision but that is not grounds for bias,” Hamel-Smith said, as he noted that court officials who communicated with the parties would not be the arbitrators in the appeal.
Responding to the submissions, Dr Emir Crowne, who is leading the former TTFA board members’ legal team, called on Gobin to look past the clauses which appear to require arbitration as opposed to local litigation.
Stating that such requirements are inoperable and unconscionable, Crowne claimed that FIFA forced their inclusion at the expense of the association and its members.
“The crux of the matter is when FIFA says so, apparently the world must bend to its will,” Crowne said.
In terms of proceedings before the CAS, Crowne noted that his clients opted to withdraw their proceedings due to the gross inequity in bargaining power compared to FIFA.
Stating that the CAS is a private arbitration company, Crowne said his client was uncomfortable with its readiness to accept FIFA’s position on paying costs.
“The familiarity between the parties shown gives us a general cause of concern,” Crowne said.
He also pointed out that Switzerland was an inappropriate forum to resolve such a legal dispute considering the case sole involves T&T.
Crowne also questioned FIFA’s claim that it may withhold funding for local football if Gobin decides to reject its application and hear the case.
“That cannot be a proper argument to a court. That cannot be correct,” Crowne said.
Through the local lawsuit, Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick are seeking a declaration that the decision to remove them in March and replace them with a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, was null, void, and of no legal or binding effect.
They are also seeking a permanent injunction barring FIFA from meddling in the TTFA’s affair by allegedly seeking to circumvent the democratic process by removing the duly elected executive members.
In the event that Gobin rejects FIFA’s application, the case before her will continue. If the application is upheld, Wallace and his colleagues will have to either abide by FIFA’s decision or attempt to revive their appeal before the CAS.
Wallace and his colleagues are also being represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul, and Jason Jones, while Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie appeared alongside Hamel-Smith for FIFA.
RELATED NEWS
Justice Gobin to answer TTFA challenge in August.
By Jada Loutoo (Newsday).
SHOULD the T&T courts hear a challenge by the TT Football Association (TTFA) former executive against the world governing body for football, FIFA, over the appointment of a normalisation committee to run the affairs of the sport locally, or should it go to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)?
This is the question Justice Carol Gobin will answer on August 13.
She has been asked to throw out the claim by the TTFA executives – ousted president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip.
On May 18, the TTFA executive decided to take the matter against FIFA to the TT High Court instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The TTFA executives felt they would not get a fair hearing at CAS.
The Wallace-led executive was removed from office by FIFA on March 17 after less than four months in the job.
The former executive was replaced by a normalisation committee led by local businessman Robert Hadad. The committee was formed to run the affairs of local football, including getting rid of the $50 million debt facing the local football body.
FIFA challenged the ousted TTFA executive’s move to have the case heard at the High Court and on Wednesday, the judge heard submissions from both sides at a virtual hearing.
The ousted executives’ lead counsel, Dr Emir Crowne argued that “the forced” arbitration before the CAS was not the appropriate forum for the dispute since it offended public policy.
He said it would be “unconscionable” to have the CAS resolve the dispute since there was no foreign element in the dispute which involves tort and land claims specific to T&T.
Even so, he said even if there was an agreement between the TTFA and FIFA, as the world governing body contends, to have disputes resolved at the CAS, it did not displace the local court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate on the claim.
Crowne also argued CAS was not the appropriate forum for the dispute since it has shown “undue familiarity” towards FIFA giving rise to the argument of apparent bias.
He described it as “familiar and cozy” relationship between FIFA and CAS since it was pointed out that the court of arbitration was familiar with a policy of FIFA not to pay advanced costs in appeals to it.
“When FIFA says so the world must bend to its whim? We submit this is not appropriate,” he said, adding that the FIFA statute which prohibits member associations from taking challenges to the local courts, but must go to the CAS, was also unconscionable.
“Even if FIFA says you signed up to our statutes you cannot have TTFA contract out or relinquish its rights set by a T&T parliament,” he said as he referred to the TTFA Act which he says cannot be amended.
“I do not think any association has bargaining power when it comes to FIFA,” he also said in arguments against the clause.
Crowne maintains the TTFA was formed by a constitutional act of Parliament. He also said the normalisation committee’s role was to assume control of the association or “usurp” the role of the TTFA’s board of directors, including taking control of properties and accounts.
At the start of the hearing, Crowne insisted that the TTFA would consider participating in mediation but not arbitration while FIFA’s lead counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith said it would participate in arbitration not mediation.
Hamel-Smith also pointed to the TTFA Act which, he said, prohibits the executive from commencing these proceedings in the local courts.
He also said under the TTFA constitution, the TTFA was a member of FIFA and was empowered to respect and prevent infringement of the world body’s statutes and regulations.
Hamel-Smith accused the ousted TTFA executive of disregarding and breach the terms of its own constitution by filing the proceedings in the local courts.
“There are ways to pursue a claim of this sort. And that would be, in accordance with constitution and the TTFA Act, to follow procedure to amend the constitution to remove the restriction it voluntary imposed on itself to bring proceedings like this to the (local) court rather than the CAS,” Hamel-Smith submitted.
“These proceedings ultra vires, null and void and ought to be dismissed. They are free to do it the proper way and then come back to the court and pursue the action,” he submitted.
He also said everyone admitted that TTFA got itself into a financial mess and this prompted FIFA to set up the normalisation committee. He said if the ousted had an issue with the costs associated with the arbitration at the CAS then it could have applied for legal aid.
Hamel-Smith said although the CAS confirmed three arbitrators would deal with the dispute, which was “hardly surprising given the nature of the dispute,” the court was not the tribunal but the administrative entity and there was no reason for believing the tribunal would be biased.
Also appearing for the Wallace and his team are attorneys Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul while Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie represent FIFA.
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Wallace: FIFA not genuine with fixing T&T football.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
William Wallace, the ousted president of the T&T Football Association has said that recent developments with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Switzerland is confirmation that the appointment of a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football had nothing to do with fixing the sport in the twin-island Republic, but rather, keeping certain people in power who it feels will support them in the end.
On Thursday, a report from Switzerland stated that criminal proceedings against Infantino had been launched and a special prosecutor was appointed this month to investigate dealings between Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber and the head of world football. According to the report "Mr Lauber offered to resign last week after a court concluded he covered up a meeting with Mr Infantino and lied to supervisors while his office probed corruption surrounding FIFA."
Wallace who has been leading his team's (United TTFA) challenge against the FIFA after it decided to appoint a normalisation committee in March, was in a confident mood after Wednesday's first court proceedings at the High Court in Port-of-Spain that ended with an adjournment until August 13.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports on Thursday Wallace said: "When we look at what's happening with the FIFA president Infantino, and we have been following this story for quite some time, and you look at what's happening in T&T, you realise that these are the persons who are responsible for sending persons to T&T because they feel that we have a problem that needs fixing, and the very organisation, the very persons who are making those decisions, are persons who have come under serious questions."
"This, for me, and I am sure that before long, other things would emerge to show that this has nothing to do with fixing T&T football, but was purely a political act of keeping certain people in power who you think would support you at the end of the day."
Wallace's team of Joseph Sam Phillip, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and himself, was replaced by a normalisation committee that comprised chairman Robert Hadad, Attorney Judy Daniel and former banker Nigel Romano, on March 27. The group had assumed office following the TTFA annual general meeting (AGM) on November 24.
However, their attempt to achieve justice through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland was withdrawn by Wallace and his legal team on May 18, sighting institutional bias and moved their challenge to the high court in T&T, asking the court to sit on the matter. However, FIFA counted by saying that the T&T court has no jurisdiction and the matter should be decided by CAS.
FIFA is contending that CAS is the appropriate court, as stated in their Statutes and the TTFA constitution. However, TTFA believes that they will be given a fair trial at the T&T court, although they are aware that suspensions could be forthcoming for their actions. Despite the legal battle, Wallace still did not rule out mediation, saying: "We have always asked for mediation, and it's not out the window yet because mediation can take place at any time. Yes, we had the first part of the case starting on Wednesday, but that does not mean that is the end of mediation. So even if this goes to trial and we hope that it does and T&T justice system rules in our favour, even if they do, there is still an opportunity for mediation."
RELATED NEWS
FIFA President Gianni Infantino Faces Criminal Investigation.
By Tariq Panja (NYTimes).
A new inquiry takes aim at undisclosed meetings with a Swiss official leading investigations into soccer corruption.
A federal prosecutor in Switzerland said on Thursday that he had opened a criminal investigation into Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, after concluding that there were “indications of criminal conduct” in meetings between Infantino and an official overseeing an investigation into soccer corruption.
The investigation follows the resignation last week of Switzerland’s attorney general, Michael Lauber, who stepped down after a federal court upheld allegations that he had lied about meeting with Infantino. Lauber had been overseeing an investigation of the 2015 corruption scandal that led to criminal indictments against some of the top leaders at FIFA, soccer’s Switzerland-based world governing body. The scandal led to the ouster of most of FIFA’s senior leadership, and paved the way for Infantino’s victory in a special presidential election a year later.
The federal prosecutor, Stefan Keller, announced the new investigation after reviewing two complaints made against Infantino, Lauber and Rinaldo Arnold, a regional prosecutor and a childhood friend of Infantino’s who had helped arrange meetings between the FIFA president and the attorney general. Arnold is also under investigation, Keller’s office said. Prosecutors called for Lauber’s immunity to be lifted so he could be investigated, too.
In a statement, Keller said the allegations in two new complaints against Infantino, Lauber and Arnold center on the abuse of public office, breach of official secrecy, assisting offenders and incitement to break the law.
The announcement is the latest legal complication for Infantino and Lauber, the attorney general, since details of their meetings emerged more than a year ago. They first came to light after a leak of emails by the Football Leaks platform, and became subject to more scrutiny when both men failed to remember what had been discussed at a meeting at a hotel in 2017, the third the pair had held in 15 months.
“On the basis of general life experience, such a case of collective amnesia is an aberration,” was the conclusion in the federal court ruling that largely upheld an earlier censure of Lauber.
Infantino has pushed back against the allegations, which have been the focus of intense news media interest in his native Switzerland and in Germany. In a statement on Thursday, Infantino pledged to continue to assist the Swiss investigations into FIFA.
“People remember well where FIFA was as an institution back in 2015, and how substantial judicial intervention was actually required to help restore the credibility of the organization,” Infantino said. “As president of FIFA, it has been my aim from Day One, and it remains my aim, to assist the authorities with investigating past wrongdoings at FIFA.”
But FIFA’s statement also pointedly rejected any implication of wrongdoing. “To meet with the Attorney General of Switzerland is perfectly legitimate and it’s perfectly legal,” Infantino said last week. “It’s no violation of anything.”
When he resigned, Lauber insisted he had been truthful at all times, but he said his position had become untenable. “The fact that I am not believed as the attorney general is detrimental to the federal prosecution office,” he said.
Keller, the federal prosecutor, was appointed in July after the receipt of anonymous criminal complaints that Infantino described as “quite absurd.”
The speed of the proceedings against Infantino is in stark contrast with the plodding pace of previous Swiss soccer investigations, including the one started after a 2014 complaint by FIFA about suspected money laundering in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding campaigns.
Since then, a number of other cases have been opened, but none have concluded with a conviction. The only criminal trial, against a group of former German soccer officials, collapsed because it had surpassed a statute of limitations.
Lauber held a news conference after the details of the first two meetings with Infantino were revealed by Football Leaks. He claimed they were justified because of the longstanding investigation into the soccer body, though he recused himself from the FIFA case anyway. A third meeting came to light only after further revelations by the news media.
That disclosure prompted an inquiry into Lauber’s conduct by a supervisory body. In March, it punished him by cutting his salary by 8 percent. Lauber then hired the same lawyer as the former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is facing a separate criminal investigation, to mount an appeal.
That panel restored some of the salary reduction, but it also issued scathing comments about his conduct in its final ruling.
Lauber, the panel said, had “intentionally made a false statement” to the supervisory body “and knowingly concealed the third meeting with FIFA president Infantino.”
The investigation is a new blow for FIFA, which has tried to turn the corner on the corruption scandal by instituting governance reforms under Infantino.
Infantino, a former official at European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, has often claimed the days of cronyism and corruption are now behind the organization. But accusations of wrongdoing against senior officials have continued. A day after Infantino had told the FIFA Congress in Paris last year that the days of scandal were over, one of his vice presidents, the head of African soccer, was arrested and questioned by French financial prosecutors.
A separate FIFA ethics probe into the official, Ahmad Ahmad, has yet to come to a conclusion even though the case has been with its investigators for more than a year.
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Well, Well, Well!
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Normalize he arse- what happening with FIFA is normal - boss of normalization-
When I say FIFA you say CORRUPTION
Let's hear it now who overseeing the boss man at FIFA? It have ah normal committee fuh dat?
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Fifa: TTFA wants to have cake and eat it too; TTFA: Arbitration clause ‘unconscionable’
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Should the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) be forced to abide by an arbitration clause that is explicit in its own constitution?
Or is the clause itself, which orders that all disputes with Fifa be sent to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), ‘unconscionable’ by virtue of it being ‘forced’ on the TTFA; and a supposed attempt to nullify the local body’s own statutes?
Port of Spain High Court Judge Carol Gobin listened to counsel for both parties today in a four hour long virtual hearing. Justice Gobin promised a decision by 13 August.
The substantive matter before her is an injunctive relief by Fifa, the world governing football body, which asks the High Court to dismiss the TTFA’s case against its implementation of a normalisation committee and/or to compel the member association to return to the CAS.
Fifa, headed by president Gianni Infantino, is represented in the High Court action by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co.
The TTFA, whose listed representatives in the matter are president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, is represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers.
At the heart of the dispute is the Fifa Bureau of the Council’s decision, on 17 March, to implement a normalisation committee on the twin island republic—due, on the surface, to issues with the financial management of the local body.
The Bureau of the Council is headed by Infantino and the Fifa Council subsequently ratified its decision last month.
First, Hamel-Smith suggested that his legal opponents failed to prove that its case had been taken by those ‘empowered to make such a decision’.
He pointed to article 36(a) of the TTFA Constitution, which said that its board of directors ‘shall pass decisions on all cases that do not come within the sphere of responsibility of the General Meeting or are not reserved for other bodies by law or under this Constitution’.
Wallace, he contended, did not prove that the TTFA board agreed to embark upon a course that exposed its members to ‘severe consequences’.
Crowne’s response was curt, as he pointed to article 39.1, which states: ‘the president represents the TTFA legally’.
“If that is not an answer [to Wallace’s authority to commence legal action],” said Crowne, “then I do not know what is.”
Hamel-Smith contended too that the TTFA’s attempt to serve Fifa—based in Zurich, Switzerland—in its High Court action was ‘unlawful’ as Swiss law does not permit this to be done via email.
Crowne retorted that there was ‘no evidence of what Swiss law actually says’ on the matter and suggested the two bodies got along fine with emails during their short-lived CAS exchange.
It was not a point that appeared to particularly trouble Justice Gobin. The appropriateness of CAS as the forum for this dispute was far more pressing.
Hamel-Smith noted that Fifa has over 200 member associations, with most having different legal systems. Fifa’s request that all football nations agree to one body to handle disagreements, he suggested, was more sensible and practical than the alternative.
“There is nothing abusive or advantageous in Fifa wanting consistent laws to govern its associations,” he said.
Crowne argued that CAS’ ‘prohibitively expensive’ fees of 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$297,000) to adjudicate the matter—since his clients were initially asked to pay both its share of the arbitration fees and Fifa’s—had the effect of pricing the TTFA out of justice.
However, Hamel-Smith countered that, in its withdrawal from CAS, the TTFA’s legal team stated: ‘even if our clients applied to the CAS for legal aid, it would still not remedy the apparent institutional bias that has arisen’.
And Fifa official Miguel Lietard, in his affidavit, suggested that the TTFA’s share of the CAS costs, 20,000 Swiss francs or TT$148,000, was ‘equivalent to just one month’s base salary that Mr Wallace committed the TTFA to pay to the head coach of the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Football Team [Terry Fenwick]’.
So, Fifa argued that TTFA’s complaints about the CAS’ costs—having failed to apply for legal aid—was essentially a red herring.
“The true reason it didn’t proceed wasn’t because of Fifa not paying its share of the advance cost,” said Hamel-Smith. “[…] They formed the view that CAS was guilty of institutional bias and they didn’t want the matter to be settled there.
“This is the knob; this is where the varnish is removed.”
Hamel-Smith conceded that the CAS appeared akin to flippant in relaying information to the TTFA regarding, for example, Fifa’s longstanding agreement with the judicial body to pay its legal fees after matters are heard.
Fifa’s right to pay fees after the fact supposedly spares the governing body the grief of chasing down defeated legal opponents for money.
Similarly, the CAS explained that its norm is to have three arbitrators and, if the TTFA wanted just one, the onus was on their legal team to make a case for such.
Hamel-Smith suggested that the TTFA did not prove institutional bias; and, in fact, the CAS is a body of great international renown. However, even if Wallace did have concerns, he said it did infringe on their ability to get a fair shake there—as CAS administrators had nothing to do with the arbitration process.
The CAS, said Hamel-Smith, merely collected fees and administered the process. And the TTFA had not complained of any bias by the named arbiters.
“CAS is the administrative body and not the tribunal who will make the judgment,” said Hamel-Smith.
Crowne replied that CAS is ‘a private arbitration company’ that had given his legal team ‘genuine pause’ in its ‘disconcerting’ conduct. He argued that to proceed despite the alleged bias was to arguably ‘waive our right to object’ later on.
He described Fifa’s reliance on the CAS as ‘a completely lopsided scheme that works entirely in its favour’ and one which ‘cannot be a system that this court upholds’. And he attempted to make light of the proffered reason why the CAS wanted three arbitrators to hear its case—thereby tripling the costs—as opposed to one.
“My lady, this case is before you,” said Crowne, “does this mean there should be three judges hearing this dispute? No.”
Crowne insisted that ‘the Court will be sending the TTFA back to an unfair forum’ if it ordered their return to CAS. And he argued that forum non conviens (the court’s discretion to decide which forum is better suited to hear a case) ought to determine that Trinidad is the right venue for the dispute between the TTFA and the normalisation committee—both consisting of entirely local citizens.
“How is a body of non-Trinidad nationals the best forum to decide whether the appointment of this normalisation committee in accordance with Trinidad law or not?” asked Crowne, as he claimed that the TTFA Constitution—governed by an Act of Parliament—was the first applicable rule book before one sought to determine whether Fifa was right to intervene.
The TTFA Constitution only allows a president to be removed by a vote from its general membership. Hamel-Smith argued that Fifa’s Statutes override the TTFA’s and noted that even article 2.1(h) of the latter’s constitution states that its ability ‘to control and supervise’ the local game must be ‘in accordance with the relevant Statutes and regulations of FIFA and Concacaf’.
Hamel-Smith said the TTFA included this clause in its constitution of its own free will, as well as its willingness to utilise the CAS.
“Not only is there an arbitral agreement but the TTFA constitution itself includes the arbitration process,” said Hamel-Smith. “They want the benefit of being a member of Fifa; then of course it must accept the restrictions and commitment that come with that benefit.
“You can’t have your cake and eat it.”
He suggested that the question of forum non conveniens arose when a matter could potentially be held in more than one jurisdiction and not when there is a valid arbitration agreement in place.
“The parties have in fact made a choice [of the appropriate forum, through its arbitration clause],” said Hamel-Smith. “There must be a reason to override this when the two parties have agreed.”
Crowne suggested that it was not much of a choice for the TTFA at all.
He referenced a Canadian taxi driver, David Heller, who successfully overturned an arbitration clause with Uber—that mandated disputes to be heard in ‘a costly arbitration process in the Netherlands’—on the grounds that it was ‘unconscionable’ and therefore ‘unenforceable’.
“There was clearly inequality of bargaining power between Uber and Mr Heller,” stated the Canada Supreme Court’s ruling. “The arbitration agreement was part of a standard form contract. Mr Heller was powerless to negotiate any of its terms.”
Crowne compared the TTFA versus Fifa to Heller’s grapple with Uber; and pointed to article 59.2-3 of the Fifa Statutes, which states:
‘Recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the Fifa regulations… The associations shall insert a clause in their statutes or regulations, stipulating that it is prohibited to take disputes in the association or disputes affecting leagues, members of leagues, clubs, members of clubs, players, officials and other association officials to ordinary courts of law, unless the Fifa regulations or binding legal provisions specifically provide for or stipulate recourse to ordinary courts of law’.
Crowne accused Fifa of overplaying its hand in attempting to completely ouster local courts, with member associations powerless to resist.
“There is no voluntariness in adopting that—it is mandatory,” said Crowne. “[…] Our attack on the clause comes from the fact that it is forced on member associations, clubs, leagues, players and officials. By virtue of that, we say the clause is inoperable [and] cannot form the basis for a valid arbitration agreement.
“The crux of the matter is when Fifa says so, the world must bend to its whim. We say it is inappropriate [and] the clause itself is unconscionable.
“[…] No member association in the world can say they have any bargaining power period when it comes to Fifa.”
The judge was interested in the argument.
“They have raised a very important question as to whether Fifa can override statutory provisions,” said Justice Gobin. “By subscribing to the Fifa agreement, [the member association agrees] to give up the day to day management that its statutes vested in its general membership.
“Can any person enter into an agreement that amends its [own] statutes or overrides its statutory provisions? Is that an appropriate question for the Court of Arbitration [for Sport], as opposed to a court in Trinidad?”
Hamel-Smith countered that the normalisation committee had not replaced the TTFA’s general council but only its board. He used the analogy of a company going into receivership. The receiver replaces the company’s board but not its shareholders.
The normalisation committee, he suggested, was the ‘equivalent of the receiver manager’.
By 13 August, Justice Gobin will reveal which message she received favourably—in a legal tussle that is likely to have far-reaching implications for either party.
A TTFA defeat would mean curtains for Wallace, who has already resigned as Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president, after being advised to do so by his executive body.
A Fifa defeat could set a troublesome precedent against the governing body, as far as its relations with other member associations go. Secretary general Fatma Samoura warned already that Fifa will not recognise the TTFA if its resistance of the normalisation committee is heard in the High Court.
Crowne asked Justice Gobin to view that warning as the very sort of bullying stance that underpins Fifa’s relationship with its member bodies.
“It cannot be correct [for Fifa to say] that we will penalise you if a local court agrees to hear your grievance,” said Crowne.
In two weeks’ time, Madame Justice Gobin will decide whether the TTFA is compelled to abide by the arbitration process it begun and then abandoned with the CAS.
Or if the Port of Spain High Court is the best venue for justice in a high stakes legal sport matter.
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https://twitter.com/EmirCrowne/status/1293968479599591424/photo/1
Breaking: High Court of Trinidad & Tobago declines FIFA's request to stay local proceedings & remit matter back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Local court assumes jurisdiction. FIFA now has 21 days to file their defence.
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https://twitter.com/EmirCrowne/status/1293968479599591424/photo/1
Breaking: High Court of Trinidad & Tobago declines FIFA's request to stay local proceedings & remit matter back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Local court assumes jurisdiction. FIFA now has 21 days to file their defence.
Honestly didn't expect such a comprehensive victory, I'm encouraged and scared at the same time - if FIFA act like petty assholes I feel for the youngsters who will undoubtedly miss out on opportunities.
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Judge Gobin rules High court can referee TTFA v FIFA case.
By Derek Achong (Guardian).
FIFA has lost its bid to have a lawsuit by a group of former T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive members over their removal dismissed before it even kicked off.
Delivering a judgement electronically on Thursday, High Court Judge Carol Gobin rejected FIFA's interim application to strike out the claim based on its rule, which precludes member federations and associations from taking legal action against it in their local courts.
Gobin ruled that FIFA's rule, which it says the TTFA agreed to when it joined the organisation, could not oust the jurisdiction of the local courts to determine whether its rules are in conformity to the Act of Parliament, which established the TTFA.
She also said that arbitration, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the referee, as suggested by FIFA and initially attempted by former TTFA president William Wallace and his executive could not resolve the dispute.
"This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the CAS," Gobin said.
Gobin also noted that FIFA's policy of refusing to pay its share of the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) required for the arbitration before the CAS rendered the process inoperable.
She said that at the eventual trial of the case Fifa would have to prove that its removal of the board and the appointment of its normalisation committee was in conformity with its own statutes which speak to respecting the independence of member associations.
"FIFA may yet have to justify its purported assumption of extraordinary power to control the day to day affairs of the TTFA, including the authority to amend to review and amend its statutes and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate," she said.
In her judgement, Gobin made noted of FIFA's open threat that former board's continued pursuit of the matter in court may lead to the suspension of the country's membership and funding cuts.
Gobin noted that while FIFA has a duty to ensure the enforcement of its rules, she noted that its lofty objectives in Article 3 and 4 of its statutes include a commitment to non-discrimination and humanitarian objectives underpinned by the rule of law.
"I do not expect FIFA to walk off the field or take its ball and go home if, after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the FIFA Statutes," she said.
FIFA was ordered to pay the former board's legal costs for defending the application.
Through the local lawsuit, Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick are seeking a declaration that the decision to remove them in March and replace them with a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, was null, void, and of no legal or binding effect.
They are also seeking a permanent injunction barring FIFA from meddling in the TTFA's affair by allegedly seeking to circumvent the democratic process by removing duly elected executive members.
Wallace and his colleagues are being represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul, and Jason Jones, while Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie are representing FIFA.
A date for the next hearing of the case is yet to be fixed.
RELATED NEWS
We just wanted to be heard — Wallace.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Members of the United T&T Football Association are claiming round one in their battle against the sport’s supreme body - FIFA, after High Court Judge Justice Carol Gobin, ruled that T&T courts can hear the matter. In her 24-page electronic judgement on Thursday Gobin wrote: “This matter is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”
The United TTFA is seeking to have FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee which was appointed on March 27 to govern the affairs of T&T football be removed. FIFA on March 17 removed the duly elected executive of the TTFA headed by president William Wallace and his thre vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick.
Wallace told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday that: “We are extremely happy with the ruling of the judge. We just wanted the opportunity to be heard that is what we were always asking for. So, this is the first step and we are grateful and elated.”
Asked if he feeling that he vindicated he responded, “I will not say that myself, this is just the beginning and the end of it all if I have to be vindicated then, then I will be vindicated then. It’s just the beginning so I will not toot my horn until the end.”
The matter was initially set to be heard in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) situated in Lausanne, Switzerland in May, but the William Wallace-led TTFA opted to take its fight to the High Court in Port-of-Spain on May 18, citing institutional bias.
Justice Gobin, in handing down her decision, urged the FIFA to not exercise discrimination of any kind against the TTFA, saying: “65. As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and T&T I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in FIFA statutes and particularly articles (3) and (4) of FIFA’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law. I do not expect FIFA to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if, after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the FIFA Statutes.”
Following the ruling as Keith Look Loy, who served at chairman of the TTFA Technical Committee in Wallace administration said the fight is about national sovereignty and democracy. “This is a struggle about national sovereignty and democracy. The court has said that T&T’s law is supreme. The court has said that it has the absolute right to hear this case, irrespective of what FIFA may say. The second case in this matter is about FIFA’s right to impose that committee. I fully expected this decision to go our way, as I am convinced that the second decision will go our way.”
Look Loy, a former national player and coach believe that this matter will be a significant one, as the FIFA is facing challenges by other Member Association around the world. “I have always maintained that this case will have far-reaching implications for the whole FIFA, Normalisation Committee, CAS system. There are people around the world watching this and this is one of the biggest decisions in global sports law for I don’t know how many decades. So the two cases combined is not only about the TTFA or what FIFA can do and if we have a plan to pay off debt, no. This is about huge matters of global importance and we have won the first round and we are happy for that, and we look forward going into the substantiative case which, I repeat, is if FIFA has the right to remove a democratically and constitutionally elected executive and replace it with whatever it feels to replace it with.”
With the ruling, the FIFA now has a period of seven days to file an appeal and 21 days to file a defence against the claims against them. Look Loy dismissed claims of an impending ban on the United TTFA for its decision to seek justice via the local courts, as well as its breach of the FIFA Statutes which is liable to a ban or suspension.
He believes the ruling can also inspire other member associations in the FIFA to challenge decisions that may be seen as unfair, or forced the FIFA to amend its Statutes. “It is not just a matter of TTFA versus FIFA, but what this now places squarely on the table in my view, is the issue of FIFA regulations, FIFA protocol, FIFA culture and FIFA Statutes. Under the statutes as it exist right now, FIFA can literally declare that it does not like the shape pf the president’s head and impose a normalisation committee, there are no rules to guide it. None in terms of the reasons why it will be imposed, the duration of the imposition, the functions of the committee, nothing at all. This places on the table the question of if normalisation committees are legal and if they are legal under what limitations.”
Look Loy said there are lots of unreported concerns of normalisation committees across the globe, saying the African nations are currently in a battle with one now.
Ousted TTFA executive awaits final whistle in FIFA dispute
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).
OUSTED TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as Justice Carol Gobin has denied FIFA’s request to have the ongoing dispute remitted back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The case can now proceed locally.
It has been approximately five months of an ongoing dispute between the TTFA and the world-governing body of football.
It began on March 17 when FIFA removed Wallace and his executive (deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip) who were elected in November 2019. FIFA said the decision was made because of the association’s financial woes and “massive debt.”
The TTFA currently has a debt of approximately $50 million .
The removal of the TTFA executive was done in accordance with article 8:2 of FIFA’s statutes which states, “Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.”
But in April, the ousted executive made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, saying the decision was a breach of the TTFA’s constitution.
The team later indicated it did not believe CAS would give a “fair hearing” as they encountered runarounds during the process. Instead – on May 18 – they appealed to the local High Court.
But the drama only continued as FIFA – in June – filed an injunction in the TT High Court to stop it from hearing any matter relating the ongoing dispute. It insisted that CAS was the only acceptable forum.
On Thursday, Gobin ruled: “The application for the stay of proceedings is refused…The defendant is ordered to pay the claimants costs to be assessed by this court in default of agreement.”
She said FIFA has 21 days to file a defence.
Speaking with Newsday on Thursday afternoon, a hopeful Wallace said, “This is definitely significant progress because it has given us a chance to be heard which is all we wanted in the first place – to be heard.”
Asked if he believes FIFA would be able to come up with an effective defence, he said, “I don’t have a clue (what they would try). I don’t see any possibility of a defence. From what I said, I think we have a very good case.”
He also commended his attorneys for their hard work.
TTFA technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy shared similar sentiments, saying regardless of it being a small victory, it is still worth celebrating.
“It is a good day. It is the first half of the match – and there is a second half – because the court has said we can hear the case here but now we have to win the case. And beyond that, it is a massive statement in the sense of our national sovereignty and democracy.
“The depiction that FIFA could just do what it wants and disrespect local courts, local law, the constitution of local associations – the court has said it cannot do this and that the rule of law must be upheld and it stands in the defence of the TTFA in that regard.”
He said he believes this case has the potential to become a landmark case in not only local but international sports law.
“There’s no doubt about that. I’ve always said it, I’ve taken some heat and some blows for saying that but it is a fact...It is a huge case.
“Right now, FIFA could just do what it wants with the normalisation committee and if they don’t like the shape of your head, they could remove you. But the problem is that nobody has ever fought FIFA. (In some people’s minds) we were not supposed to fight, we were supposed to pick up, say we can’t fight FIFA and walk away.”
Newsday tried to contact Hadad but all calls and messages went unanswered.
This story was originally published with the title "Wallace hopeful as judge rules case against FIFA can proceed locally" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.
OUSTED TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as Justice Carol Gobin has denied FIFA’s request to have the ongoing dispute remitted back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The case can now proceed locally.
Wallace and his executive challenged FIFA’s decision on March 17 to remove the TTFA executive and implement a normalisation committee.
On May 18, the former TTFA executive decided to take the matter to the TT High Court, instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), since they felt they would not get a fair hearing at the Switzerland-based CAS.
FIFA then challenged this move.
But on Thursday, Gobin ruled: “The application for the stay of proceedings is refused…The defendant is ordered to pay the claimants costs to be assessed by this court in default of agreement.”
FIFA has 21 days to file a defence.
Speaking with Newsday, Wallace said, “This is definitely significant progress because it has given us a chance to be heard which is all we wanted in the first place – to be heard.”
Asked if he believes FIFA would be able to come up with an effective defence, he said, “I don’t have a clue (what they would try). I don’t see any possibility of a defence. From what I said, I think we have a very good case.”
He commended his attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul for their hard work.
TTFA v FIFA to take place on local soil.
By Jada Loutoo (Newsday).
THE TT Football Association’s (TTFA) challenge of FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee to run the affairs of the sport locally and the ouster of the William Wallace-led executive will play out on local soil.
In a ruling, on Thursday, Justice Carol Gobin dismissed FIFA’s application to have the TTFA’s complaint heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Gobin rejected FIFA’s application to strike out the claim because its rules prevents member federations and associations from commencing proceedings against it in their local courts.
“I do not think that arbitration would be the appropriate forum for the resolution of this dispute. This case goes well beyond TTFA’s alleged governance issues and the justifiability of FIFA’s purported action in appointing the normalisation committee.
“This is about the legitimacy of powers exercised under Article 8(2) of the FIFA Statutes and its consistency with a law passed by legislators in this country. This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports,” Gobin said in her decision which was delivered electronically.
On May 18, the ousted TTFA executive, through its attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul, decided to take the matter against FIFA to the TT High Court instead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The TTFA executives felt they would not get a fair hearing at CAS.
The Wallace-led executive was removed from office by FIFA on March 17 after less than four months in the job.
The former executive was replaced by a normalisation committee led by local businessman Robert Hadad. The committee was formed to run the affairs of local football, including getting rid of the $50 million debt facing the local football body. In response to the legal action, FIFA challenged the ousted TTFA executive’s move to have the case heard at the High Court.
In her ruling, Gobin also held that because TTFA was a statutory corporation, it could not oust the jurisdiction of the local courts. She pointed out that the TTFA Act and its constitution established a “comprehensive governance structure within the organisation.”
“A normalisation committee appointed by FIFA is not on the face of it an organ recognised under that structure,” she said, adding, “FIFA may yet have to justify its purported assumption of extraordinary power to control the day to day affairs of TTFA, including authority to review and amend its statutes and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.”
She further held that the question for the court as the litigation progresses will be whether the TTFA can contract out of the TTFA Act to give FIFA the power to control its day-to-day affairs or whether the local body’s contractual undertakings are subject to TT laws.
On the question of arbitration, which the ousted TTFA executive has refused to agree to, Gobin said there was “an inherent contradiction in the FIFA’s purported appointment of a normalisation committee, the purpose of which has been to usurp the powers and functions of the executive of the TTFA on the one hand, and its insistence on holding the TTFA to the arbitration agreement on the other.”
“The claimant properly asks the question, whom FIFA holds to that agreement. In other words, if FIFA disputes the authority of Mr. Wallace and others to act on behalf of TTFA, and TTFA is under the control of the normalisation committee, how does it reconcile that with its insistence that these very persons who have no authority to file these court should commence arbitration proceedings in Switzerland?
“The arbitration process cannot be triggered if there is a dispute as to the capacity of one of the parties to invoke the process and to bind TTFA to any outcome,” she said.
On FIFA’s arguments on the cost of arbitration at the CAS – it suggested that the TTFA could have applied for legal aid – Gobin said “not only has FIFA unequivocally refused to comply with” the CAS rules on the payment of advanced costs, it thumbed its nose at its obligations to pay under the agreement and “further paralysed the arbitral process by obtaining an extension of time to answer the case until after TTFA paid its (FIFA’s) costs.
“This together with the refusal to recognise the board of directors was sufficient to establish a wider pattern of repudiatory conduct and, in the circumstances of this case, I find that the refusal to pay the advance costs rendered the arbitration inoperable. The stay of proceedings would not have been granted in the circumstances,” the judge said.
Before disposing of the matter, Gobin also addressed the warning by FIFA’s local attorneys of the “severe consequences to which TTFA is exposed as a consequence of taking action in direct breach of the terms of its membership of FIFA.”
FIFA’s lead counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith warned that the breach of the rules left the TTFA susceptible to suspension from the world body’s membership which would directly impact TT as the various national teams will no longer be allowed to enter international tournaments and matches.
Hamel-Smith warned that a suspension would compromise the careers, livelihood, education and other prospects for players.
“These are no doubt serious concerns. FIFA has been clear on its objective to control every type of association football by taking appropriate steps to prevent infringements of the statutes, regulations or decisions of FIFA or of the laws of the game.
“This case has disclosed that among the mechanisms by which it achieves its goals is to dictate that member association’s rules are consistent with its statutes and that they (the associations) adopt stringent rules to enforce them. FIFA also insists on rules which prohibit or limit access to municipal courts.”
She held she was confident that FIFA believed the statutes and mechanism it used to enforce them were compliant with the laws of the countries to which member associations belong and “FIFA could not presume to be above the law.”
As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TT’s football on the international state, Gobin said she was encouraged by the “lofty objects” identified in FIFA’s statutes and particularly its commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights and non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason.
“I do not expect FIFA to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the FIFA Statutes,” she said.
FIFA was ordered to pay the TTFA executive’s costs as she also extended the time for filing of its defence.
Also appearing for FIFA were Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.
Trinidad and Tobago teeter on brink of ban and 2022 exclusion after judge rules local law trumps FIFA’s
By Paul Nicholson (Insideworldfootball).
Trinidad and Tobago High Court judge Carol Gobin has ruled against FIFA’s application to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by former TTFA board members over their replacement with a normalisation committee.
This was a ruling over whether jurisdiction should be with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, as FIFA argued, or whether it was an issue for the T&T courts – whether the TTFA is subject to national law over and above FIFA’s statutes, even if those statues had been recognised by the TTFA when it joined the organisation.
The impact for football in Trinidad and Tobago will be far reaching and potentially immediate if FIFA choose to move towards banning the TTFA. If a ban happened before next week then Trinidad and Tobago would be removed from the draw for the World Cup qualifiers, hence ending chance of going to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 before a ball was kicked.
Also upcoming is the draw for 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup as well as various age group competitions and women’s competitions. If banned Trinidad would not be included in any of them with no senior team likely to be seen participating in any major international championship until qualifiers begin for the 2023 Gold Cup – assuming they are reinstated by then.
Judge Gobin referenced this in her judgement saying: “I do not expect FIFA to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the FIFA Statutes.”
FIFA had already warned that it could implement sanctions, potentially immediately. On a simple, if neither the ousted TTFA board or the Trinidad and Tobago government are prepared to respect FIFA’s statutes then how can they expect to play in FIFA or Concacaf’s competitions against other countries that have signed up to those codes – whether they like them or not.
Perhaps more importantly in an FA that has shown itself too often to be more motivated by money than football, how can it hold its begging bowl for FIFA’s money – realistically the only chance it has of clearing debt built up over a number of years and for which the ousted TTFA officials had shown no credible plan of eliminating, but had only added to in their short three months at the helm.
One option mooted two months ago to Insideworldfootball was that it might make more sense to shut the existing TTFA down completely, leave the individuals personally responsible for the debt mountain and start a new federation from scratch.
FIFA will not want to go to court – even though they would probably like to expose the corruption within football in this twin island republic – as on a practical level it potentially opens them up to national litigation from any other federation that refuses to accept its decisions. The legal costs could potentially bankrupt the world governing body.
What looks most likely is that there will be a discussion between FIFA and the ousted TTFA board with a compromise sought. However, it is unlikely that there will much movement from FIFA’s side. The FIFA Ethics investigations that are currently ongoing into the former TTFA board regarding the multiple corruption allegations (from election fraud to contract and financial fraud) will likely be a determinant in any negotiation and, perhaps unfortunately, prevent any full airing in the Trinidad courts.
Locally Judge Gobin’s decision is being hailed as a major victory for the country. “…it is a massive statement in the sense of our national sovereignty and democracy,” said TTFA technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy told local news service Newsday. Look Loy, the puppet master behind the administration of former TTFA president William Wallace (pictured), continued: “The depiction that FIFA could just do what it wants and disrespect local courts, local law, the constitution of local associations – the court has said it cannot do this and that the rule of law must be upheld and it stands in the defence of the TTFA in that regard.”
While it seems pretty unlikely that FIFA have any burning ambition to run the Trinidad and Tobago government or its judiciary (Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence in 1962), it is clear that football’s patience is wearing thin and ultimately time is running out for players in the country who now look like losing any opportunity of playing for their country and potentially moving into the professional game in more serious football nations and leagues.
Judge Gobin gave FIFA 21 days to file a defence against the claim that it illegally introduced a Normalisation Committee. While Look Loy says that there is now a second half to this game to be played, as the top coach and football guru in his country he will also be aware that the best form of defence is very often attack. FIFA’s might be nuclear in a country whose judiciary is still protecting world Football’s Most Wanted, former Concacaf president Jack Warner, who five years after being indicted in the FIFAgate scandal is still avoiding extradition to the US to face multiple bribery, corruption and money laundering allegations.
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Paul Nicholson articles read like something from the current White House press office :rotfl:
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i say expect a ban as soon as monday, tuesday for the latest. badmind gianni will not allow his ego to digest this blatant act of insubordination, him and his third world minions.
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FI FA can fire truck off and go
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TTFA in danger of FIFA sanctions — Harris.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) boss, Randy Harris, believes Trinidad and Tobago Football Association will face sanction from FIFA, following the landmark decision handed down in the High Court here this week against the powerful world governing body.
While stressing that he did not speak on the behalf of the Zurich-based organisation, Barbadian Harris indicated that there was precedent for action against the TTFA, as FIFA often tried to discourage member associations from legal disputes.
“I can’t really speak for FIFA but normally that would be the case – suspension of the member association,” said Harris, also a vice-president of the continental governing body, CONCACAF.
“FIFA can make that decision of suspension but it is up to the congress to decide if they would agree with that suspension or not. But I believe that some action will be taken against Trinidad and Tobago.
“I’m hoping that won’t be the case because this is the first time such a decision has been made in the football world and we will all wait to see how FIFA deals with the matter.”
In a landmark 24-page ruling this week, Madam Justice Carol Gobin concluded that arbitration was not the “appropriate forum” for the settlement of the ongoing dispute.
The ruling was a blow to FIFA’s bid to have the dispute with the TTFA heard by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports,” the court said.
Harris, the president of the Barbados Football Association, told i95FM Sports on Thursday that the ruling would resonate among member associations especially since it impacted the established system of governance enforced by FIFA.
“But I can tell you, this is a big, big decision in the football world because all of the MAs (member associations) affiliated to FIFA, is at this time believing they play under the FIFA statutes and their governance,” Harris explained.
“And this plays a different tune so we will wait and see what FIFA has to say about and of course I hope that everything runs well for Trinidad and Tobago.”
He continued: “This decision really turns this over on their heads because all the MAs in FIFA are of the opinion that we follow the FIFA statutes and abide by the rules and regulations of FIFA. FIFA is the world football [governing] body but of course, we are independent nations.
“I have not read the full judgement but I will wait and see how this pans out now for the other MAs playing under FIFA’s jurisdiction.”
The dispute was triggered last March after FIFA swooped down to disband the TTFA executive and appoint a normalisation committee to run the association.
Ousted president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents attempted to challenge the decision before CAS but withdrew their case after contending that FIFA was thwarting the process.
Harris said because of the landmark nature of the ruling, the response of FIFA would now be a critical turning point in the matter.
“I wouldn’t look at it as weakening FIFA because FIFA can never be bigger than the governance of a country,” Harris pointed out.
“I think this matter of not taking [footballing] matters to the ordinary courts is a situation that FIFA introduced to prevent the going and to court action and I think that they were satisfied that they have the regulations to deal with matters where they are disputes.
“This, as I say, is the first time that the statutes have been challenged in this way and we should wait and see what FIFA’s reaction to it will be.”
(CMC)
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Mr. Harris, we go take it like men. f k fifa.
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Wallace ‘extremely happy’ with Fifa judgment, but ready to face backlash—if necessary.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace said he was ‘extremely happy’ but also wary, after a significant triumph today in his case against the world governing body, Fifa.
“All we wanted was a chance to be heard, and if this is the first step towards that then I am extremely happy,” Wallace told Wired868. “I won’t be shouting and saying hoorah though… We are just waiting to see what happens now.
“There are 21 days [for Fifa to file a defence against the TTFA’s substantive case in the High Court], so we are waiting to see if Fifa proceeds or not.”
Wallace and TTFA vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip are challenging Fifa’s decision to remove them from their elected positions on 17 March—just four months into their respective terms—and put a normalisation committee, headed by Robert Hadad, in their place.
Fifa, headed by president Gianni Infantino, asked the Port of Spain High Court to either dismiss Wallace’s application or force them to instead take their battle to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Fifa is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Today, Justice Carol Gobin refused on both points and ordered Fifa to pay the legal costs for the TTFA officials’ attorneys, after the former’s failed manoeuvre.
The TTFA is represented legally by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul while Fifa was represented in the High Court action by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.
Wallace and company are operating under the threat of a Fifa suspension by daring to take the world’s most powerful individual sport body to court. But the besieged TTFA president said his group made a measured effort to spare local football from possible backlash.
“We have always said from the outset that, if this resulted in a personal ban from Fifa, we are prepared to accept that,” said Wallace. “We also calculated that the risk of the country getting banned was pretty low. What we did is we took up this matter as elected individuals rather than as the TTFA—so we did not draw the TTFA into the case in essence but acted as elected members who were unfairly removed from office.
“That is why all the funding used in the case was from personal funds and not from the TTFA’s coffers. So if there is to be a ban, it would be on us as individuals.”
During Hamel-Smith’s submissions, he told the High Court of ‘severe consequences to which the TTFA is exposed as a consequence of taking action in direct breach of the terms of its membership of Fifa’ and warned that suspension from the governing body would deny national teams from participating in tournaments and ‘compromise the careers, livelihood, education and other prospects for players’.
Justice Gobin responded that Fifa might be violating its own statutes to ban the TTFA and the blame for such action could not placed on the local officials.
“As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and Trinidad and Tobago, I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in Fifa statutes,” stated Justice Gobin, “and particularly articles (3) and (4) of Fifa’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law.
“I do not expect Fifa to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the Fifa Statutes.”
A key point in the legal tussle was the TTFA’s decision to withdraw from the CAS. Wallace argued that the CAS showed bias towards its Swiss neighbours while Fifa argued that the former Carapichaima East Secondary vice-principal had been too hasty in abandoning their challenge there.
Again, Justice Gobin ruled in favour of the TTFA officials on that point. Wallace said he felt vindicated.
“The judge spoke about Fifa’s decision not to pay its share of fees to CAS,” said Wallace. “That to me was just basically putting us in a position where we would be forced to drop the matter. So I am happy we got justice somewhere else.
“[…] It was interesting to also note that the judge gave a couple comments which gave insight into the case, when she spoke to Fifa having to prove that setting up a normalisation committee is not going against its own statutes in allowing member countries to run its own affairs. That was quite, quite interesting.”
Wallace’s issues since 17 March have not been solely related to Fifa, as was criticised by even his vice-presidents over the handling of contracts given to marketing manager Peter Miller, Soca Warriors head coach Terry Fenwick and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan.
Last month, he resigned his post as Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president after disquiet regarding the aforementioned deals.
However, Wallace hopes that this case can still be a positive turning point for the local game.
“I know that there was concern out there about this case from stakeholders and still is,” said Wallace, “but there comes a time when you have to stand up for something; and I am hoping that, at the end of the day, whatever results from this makes Trinidad and Tobago’s football stronger—and possibly world football too.
“We thank God for this.”
RELATED NEWS
Justice Gobin: ‘Fifa could not presume to be above the law’! Infantino-led body accused of ‘thumbing nose’ at fair play in TTFA attack.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Madame Justice Carol Gobin handed down a comprehensive defeat to global football body, Fifa, in the Port of Spain High Court today, in a decision that is likely to be read closely across the planet.
The TTFA was represented legally by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers. Fifa was represented by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co.
On 17 March, the Bureau of the Fifa Council—headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino—ordered a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago and declared that Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace, vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, as well as its board of directors had been immediately replaced.
Wallace and his vice-presidents have resisted the ruling in the local High Court. However, Fifa urged the High Court to accede to arbitration clauses in the constitution of both football bodies and instead send the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or dismiss the TTFA’s case outright.
Justice Gobin did neither. Instead, she ruled that Fifa’s conduct in its implementation of the normalisation committee was a violation of its statutes while its behaviour in relation to the TTFA rendered the arbitration clause ‘inoperable’.
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura said repeatedly that the governing body does not recognise Wallace and his vice-presidents as the representatives of the TTFA and only considers normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad as the head of the local game.
How then, Justice Gobin asked in her 24-page ruling, can Fifa logically recognise Wallace’s authority before the CAS?
“There is an inherent contradiction in the Fifa’s purported appointment of a normalisation committee, the purpose of which has been to usurp the powers and functions of the executive of the TTFA on the one hand,” stated the High Court judge, “and its insistence on holding the TTFA to the arbitration agreement on the other. The Claimant properly asks the question: ‘whom does FIFA hold to that agreement’.
“In other words, if Fifa disputes the authority of Mr Wallace and others to act on behalf of TTFA, and TTFA is under the control of the normalisation committee—how does it reconcile that with its insistence that these very persons who have no authority to file these court [documents] should commence arbitration proceedings in Switzerland?
“The arbitration process cannot be triggered if there is a dispute as to the capacity of one of the parties to invoke the process and to bind TTFA to any outcome.
“[…] By its challenge to the authority of persons to bring this action, in which proceedings were signed by the President, Mr Wallace and the board of directors named in the arbitration proceedings, the arbitration was rendered inoperable.”
The High Court further ruled that Fifa had ‘not demonstrated that it is ready and willing to do all things necessary to the proper conduct of the arbitration’.
Wallace initially sought to defend his position at the CAS, only to withdraw citing bias from the Swiss-based arbitration body. Justice Gobin was not satisfied with Fifa’s behaviour at the CAS either.
The judge pointed to Fifa’s refusal to pay its share of arbitration fees upfront as well as the CAS’ decision to allow the governing body an extension to file its answer until after the TTFA paid fees for both parties.
“In its interpretation and application of the rules, the [CAS] court office effectively denied access to the prescribed method of achieving dispute resolution to the undeniably weaker of the parties,” stated Justice Gobin. “Fifa was at all times aware of the dire state of the TTFA’s finances, which predated the installation of the new Board of Directors in office in November 2019.
“Rules which were intended to level the playing field, in the words of the Privy Council allowed ‘the strong to push the weak to the wall’ (Janet Boustany v George Pigott Co, Antigua and Barbuda [1993] UKPC).
“[…] In this case, not only has Fifa unequivocally refused to comply with the CAS 64.2 rule, thumbing its nose at its obligations to pay under the agreement, it further paralysed the arbitral process by obtaining an extension of time to answer the case until after TTFA paid its (Fifa’s) costs.
“This together with the refusal to recognise the [TTFA] Board of Directors was sufficient to establish a wider pattern of repudiatory conduct and in the circumstances of this case I find that the refusal to pay the advance costs rendered the arbitration inoperable.
“The stay of proceedings would not have been granted in the circumstances.”
Fifa’s attorneys had argued that, although the TTFA’s Constitution did not expressly grant power to the world governing body to override its affairs, this was irrelevant since the local football body agreed to conduct its affairs in accordance with Fifa mandates. As such, they argued that Fifa’s Statutes trumped the TTFA’s Constitution.
However, Justice Gobin pointed to article 19 of the Fifa Statutes:
1. Each member association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties.
2. A member association’s bodies shall be either elected or appointed in that association. A member association’s statutes shall provide for a democratic procedure that guarantees the complete independence of the election or appointment.
3. Any member association’s bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with the provisions of par 2, even on an interim basis, shall not be recognised by FIFA.
4. Decisions passed by bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with par 2 shall not be recognised by Fifa.
“Fifa may yet have to justify its purported assumption of extraordinary power to control the day to day affairs of TTFA,” stated Justice Gobin, “including authority to review and amend its statutes and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
“This appears to be in breach of FIFA Statute 19.2.”
And, crucially, Justice Gobin ruled that Fifa had no right to deprive its member associations of the right to seek determination from its local courts.
“Had Parliament intended to enact Fifa Statutes so as to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and to effectively deprive the TTFA of access to the courts of this country, it would have had to do so expressly in clear and unambiguous terms,” stated the High Court. “[…] The dispute in this case falls under Article 67 of TTFA’s Constitution under which TTFA agreed to subscribe to the exclusive jurisdiction of CAS. A statutory corporation which is empowered to make rules for its operations goes too far when it makes rules or adopt rules which foreclose access to the courts of the country.
“Moreover it is outwith the jurisdiction of an entity incorporated under our legislation to agree to submit to foreign law as Fifa Statutes prescribe… Fifa could not presume to be above the law.”
Justice Gobin further stated that Fifa’s attempted ‘ouster clause’ for local courts was insufficient to deny its application by member associations. She pointed to Lord Reid’s ruling in Anisminic v Foreign Compensation Commission HL [1969] 2 AC 147, which said:
“It is a well-established principle that a provision ousting the ordinary jurisdiction of the court must be construed strictly, meaning I think, that if such a provision is reasonably capable of having two meanings, that meaning shall be taken which preserve the ordinary jurisdiction of the courts.”
A key point by Fifa is that the CAS is the best venue to determine whether the governing body was justified in intervening in the TTFA’s internal affairs.
However, Justice Gobin did not agree that this was a matter of justifying Fifa intervention at all. For her, it was a case of if Fifa had the right to intervene in the first place, through the implementation of a normalisation committee.
“I do not think that arbitration would be the appropriate forum for the resolution of this dispute,” stated Justice Gobin. “This case goes well beyond TTFA’s alleged governance issues and the justifiability of Fifa’s purported action in appointing the Normalisation Committee. This is about the legitimacy of powers exercised under Article 8.2 of the Fifa Statutes and its consistency with a law passed by legislators in this country.
“This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”
Justice Gobin noted Fifa’s threats to take draconian action to the detriment of the local game.
Hamel-Smith told the High Court that Wallace’s use of the local courts ‘renders TTFA susceptible to be suspended from Fifa’s membership—aside from the direct implications for TTFA such as suspension will impact the country of Trinidad and Tobago whose various nationals teams will no longer be allowed to partake in international tournaments and matches. This compromises the careers, livelihood, education and other prospect for players’.
However, Justice Gobin suggested that Fifa would be in violation of its own humanitarian goals if it took such an action against Trinidad and Tobago’s football.
“As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and Trinidad and Tobago, I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in Fifa statutes,” stated Justice Gobin, “and particularly articles (3) and (4) of Fifa’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law.
“I do not expect Fifa to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the Fifa Statutes.”
Justice Gobin granted Fifa a 21-day extension to file a defence to the TTFA’s injunction against its normalisation committee. However, Fifa’s application for stay and all other aspects of its application was dismissed.
Fifa was also ordered to ‘pay the claimants costs to be assessed by this court in default of agreement’.
Infantino, according to football sources, vowed, beforehand, to convene the Bureau of the Fifa Council immediately after the High Court decision to consider action against Wallace, his vice-presidents and the TTFA—if he did not get his way.
The Fifa Bureau is its emergency committee and includes Infantino and presidents of its six confederations, including Concacaf.
On Wednesday 19 August, Concacaf will hold its draw for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying schedule. A Fifa suspension over the coming days would automatically rule the Soca Warriors out of the draw.
Infantino’s legal problems are in no way restricted to the TTFA. Two weeks ago, Swiss special prosecutor Stefan Keller initiated a criminal investigation against the Fifa president as result of secret meetings between the football jefe and Switzerland Attorney General Michael Lauber.
Keller, who was appointed on 29 June by the Supervisory Authority for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), found enough evidence to indict Infantino, Lauber and Chief Public Prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold on abuse of public office, breach of official secrecy and assisting offenders—which are article 312, 320 and 305 of the Swiss Criminal Code respectively.
Wallace wins in High Court, Fifa application dismissed as seismic case remains in Trinidad.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
If Fifa wants to defend its implementation of a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago, the world governing body will have to do so in the Port of Spain High Court.
Today, Justice Carol Gobin dismissed Fifa’s application to move its case with Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his vice-presidents to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and also refused to stay proceedings between the two parties.
Justice Gobin also ordered Fifa to pay the TTFA’s legal costs.
The result is arguably a vindication of Wallace’s decision and that of his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip to leave the CAS. However, it might come at a cost. Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura warned previously that Fifa will not continue with the case, should the TTFA win at this stage, and will instead implement sanctions.
Fifa statutes give the world governing body the authority to suspend the TTFA from all international competition and/or impose sanctions on the officials who launched legal proceedings.
The TTFA is represented legally by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers.
Fifa was represented in the unsuccessful High Court action by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co.
The decision by the Port of Spain High Court further dents the credibility of Fifa’s normalisation committee in the twin island republic, which is headed by Robert Hadad and also includes deputy chairperson Judy Daniel and ordinary member Nigel Romano.
The Fifa Bureau of the Council announced a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago on 17 March—a decision that immediately annulled the election of Wallace and his vice-presidents just four months earlier.
Fifa said its decision was based on concerns regarding the financial management of the local football body, although Wallace countered that the move was politically motivated.
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In a world (cup) of their own. Will Trinidad be left playing Tobago?
By Paul Nicholson (insideworldfootball)
The fate of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2020 World Cup qualifying campaign currently looks to be laying in the hands of a Port of Spain High Court judge rather than at the feet of a team on the pitch.
Yesterday Judge Carol Gobin conducted a four-hour virtual hearing that will decide whether a case brought by the former Trinidad and Tobago FA board saw them illegally removed from office by a FIFA Normalisation committee.
FIFA argue that the complaint should be either dismissed or referred back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In essence it is a pretty clear case of who has jurisdiction over football on the islands. The one thing that former president William Wallace and his former vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip – all replaced by the Normalisation Committee – can guarantee is that FIFA will not back down. One wonders if they fully understand this and what will happen should they win their case.
Well, it isn’t difficult to work out. FIFA would likely suspend the TTFA, and that would mean no team in 2022 World Cup qualification that starts in three months. After all, if you refuse to recognise the governing body’s role of governing the game, how can you expect to play in its competition? Would they respect those rules even? As one person put it, at this rate Trinidad will be playing Tobago…
FIFA removed Wallace and his crew – and it extends beyond the named parties in the court case – following real concern about the financial management of what was already a financially beleaguered TTFA. After three months Wallace had no believable plan, no bank account (the court froze it), and no money. Staff were unpaid, few teams were playing, and one of his first acts had been to close the only asset the TTFA had, the newly opened House of Football.
More importantly, Wallace had no relationship with the governing body nor seemed to make any attempt to create one. The view of Wallace and his people seemed to be that the FIFA grants were handouts that came with no strings attached and were their birthright. Wallace had fastracked the TTFA into financial oblivion.
What Wallace did have was a series of highly dubious and in some cases fabricated sponsorship promises that propelled his team and their buddies through the election and to power. He also had the prospect of a cut of a land development deal around the Arima Velodrome – property developer or football federation? The Arima questions remain unanswered but point towards the type of personal enrichment scam that Trinidad knows only too well (Football’s Most Wanted, former Concacaf president Jack Warner, still owns the FIFA financed Concacaf Centre of Excellence complex – allegedly a gift to Warner).
All these issues have been covered in Insideworldfootball in recent months – neither Wallace nor his cohorts have responded to questions or answered them adequately in their preferred and unequivocally supportive local media. It is a sad – some might say dishonest – indictment of both. Dishonest is a word that has been used to describe Insideworldfootball when it broke many of these stories, but really, who is the dishonest media here? The Wallace contracts have been there to see, from forged letters of support, to dodgy kit deals, to dubious and untransparent contracts for land development. Wallace, his TTFA board and his national team coach Terry Fenwick had become a gift that keep on giving for media.
And then there is always the spectre of Warner in a country whose judicial system has steadfastedly protected him from extradition to the US to face multiple corruption charges from bribery to embezzlement to money laundering. One wonders if it is that example that motivated Wallace’s team. After all, Warner got away with filching millions upon millions and members of Wallace’s team and backroom string pullers like Keith Look Loy are closely linked to Warner.
The one thing about Warner that does give him credit was that he genuinely loved football and wanted his islands to do well. However, it does bring to mind the judge’s comment in the Harry Redknapp case when he learned that he had a dog with a Ł250K Monaco bank account. He said (paraphrased): “You say you loved your dog Mr Redknapp. I would love my dog too if it had a bank account in Monaco.” Jack appears to have accounts all over the Caribbean and perhaps it will take his removal from the Caribbean for football associations like the TTFA to understand that the football world has changed since 2015.
Wallace and co’s legacy for football in Trinidad and Tobago could turn out to be no football. But for them, was it ever really about football? Who knows, they never answer the big questions.
RELATED NEWS
FIFA’s Safe Caribbean Home: ‘The Caribbean Is A Vote Farm For FIFA – They Don’t Care About Our Football’
By Louis Young (worldfootballindex).
May 2020
n November 2019, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) democratically elected William Wallace as president, replacing David John-Williams.
Following a fact-finding mission into the operations of the TTFA, just four months into Wallace’s term, FIFA announced their decision to impose a normalisation committee which would run the TTFA’S daily affairs.
“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity,” said a FIFA statement.
“Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
One question directed towards FIFA following this action referred to their previous awareness of the TTFA’s financial woes, which have been public for many years. FIFA even froze the accounts of the previous administration, with David John-Williams as president, multiple times.
WFi‘s Louis Young spoke to Lasana Liburd who, along with other investigative journalists, co-authored the book Korruption im Sport which focused on the global phenomenon of corruption in sport.
Lasana is the founder and editor of Wired868 and has covered this story involving FIFA and the TTFA extensively.
Louis Young: Seeing as the financial woes of the TTFA have been public for a long time, why has FIFA suddenly taken the action to suspend a newly elected committee and impose a normalisation committee?
Lasana Liburd: “That would be a good question for Gianni Infantino, and it is for the FIFA bureau to answer really.
“It is true that the TTFA’s financial issues are not new at all. However, it is also true that the financial state the TTFA are in, is three times worse now due to the last administration that was run by David John-Williams, who voted for Infantino in 2016.
“You would say that the financial situation and the handling of the finances has been worse in the last administration, as opposed to this one which is only three months old.”
LY: Infantino and John-Williams had a lot of support from one another and had a fairly amicable relationship, is that right?
LL: “Yes, the relationship for those two dates back to when John-Williams became the first person from the Caribbean to announce support for Infantino.
“A week before the last TTFA election, Infantino was in Trinidad and announced John-Williams as his teammate and praised John-Williams for doing a great job, in his opinion, and asked Trinidad and Tobago to support John-Williams in the next election just a week later.”
LY: Do you feel FIFA has not approached this situation with the intentions of improving the football of the country?
LL: “Well, in the years before John-Williams was elected, Trinidad and Tobago went to two Gold Cup quarterfinals.
“The women’s national team came within a play-off match, away against Ecuador in 2014, from getting to the Women’s World Cup.
“There is no yardstick you can use that football in Trinidad and Tobago has improved in any way when every national team has gone backwards.
“When John-Williams was elected, we were 52nd in the World FIFA rankings and when he left, we were 106th.
“After he was elected, we set new records in every way, like longest period without scoring a goal, longest period without winning a match, longest losing streak…
“The only team we beat in 2019 was Anguilla, the worst-ranked team in football. So when people say that FIFA has not shown an interest in the football here, you’d have to agree. On the basis of these things here that would be the case.”
LY: The newly elected president, William Wallace, has signalled his intention to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), claiming this intervention by FIFA was unlawful and unwarranted. Can you talk me through what part of this intervention he and other members of the board find unlawful and unwarranted?
LL: “Well if you look at the FIFA statutes, for a member association to be suspended or expelled they have to go through the entire membership, which is made up 210 FIFA member associates.
“Implementing a normalisation committee is effectively wiping out the board of a members association. Somehow the seven-person FIFA bureau can decide that themselves.
“To me this is a violation of the spirit of the FIFA constitution. The statutes mean that all 210 members should be involved in the suspension of a country’s membership. So why does this FIFA bureau have this right? The clause is extremely broad regarding stepping into a country’s membership, so it allows them to step in almost at will, as long as Infantino can get three people around the table that agree with him.
“This is something other member associations and the world of football should look at, because this is too much power for Infantino to have.”
LY: From your perspective, and your own research on this topic, does the question become less about the financial operations of the TTFA, and more about the actions of Infantino? To what degree have Infantino’s actions in this situation crossed a line where it looks like a personal act against the TTFA?
LL: “CONCACAF has 35 member nations. That means 35 votes in FIFA. The Caribbean has 25 votes out of the 35 so we are by far the majority in CONCACAF.
“South America has less than half votes with only 10. The Caribbean itself has 25. Politically, we have seen the importance of the Caribbean to FIFA under Sepp Blatter, Joao Havelange, and so on.
“I believe that FIFA’s interest in the Caribbean is all that it has ever been. Votes. That is it. The Caribbean is a vote farm for FIFA and nothing more. They don’t care about football in the Caribbean, they never did. And certainly not under Infantino. That is why he would praise the work of a president of whose team is doing worse than it ever has in its history.
“I believe that when Infantino looks at the Caribbean, with a personal attachment one way or the other, I think that the relationship is strictly geopolitical. Votes.
“I think that the rest of the world looking at FIFA’s action here need to ask what exactly they want FIFA to be. We have seen FIFA’s image over the years and the cost of it.
“Do they want FIFA to treat a vital part in the world like Trinidad and Tobago like this, or do they want to focus on improving [the] sport?”
LY: Is part of the question regarding Infantino’s clear disrespect and lack of interest in progressing the football in the Caribbean, and specifically Trinidad and Tobago, related to the ‘Home of Football‘ FIFA wanted to build in Trinidad?
LL: “Well, the Home of Football is finished. It was Infantino who opened it. It is totally useless.
“It isn’t properly comforted or heated. It isn’t even properly insured. Infantino and [FIFA Vice-President Victor] Montagliani were posing on beds there, but right now it’s a sham and a joke.
“But going back to Infantino, as a journalist, I cannot be sanctioned for simply speaking my mind. When Blatter felt there was talk all over the world about the way he was able to run the body by giving large quantitates of money to member associations, that seemed like something that needed to be looked at.
“When Infantino was elected, he tripled the money that went to member associations without a clear oversight of what they did [with it]. I think this is most evident with Trinidad and Tobago, where the money has been spent, debt soared, but the team has not performed to the way they should. Yet he was happy with what was happening.
“I think one of the first things that Infantino did as president was close down the committee in charge of anti-racism. So in my personal view, there is a lot that Infantino needs to take account for in regards to his actions.
“Just look at the situation with Trinidad and Tobago and ask yourself the question: ‘Is Infantino the man to clean up football?’ It is Trinidad and Tobago today but it could be anyone tomorrow.”
LY: William Wallace has spoken about going to the CAS. How successful do you think Trinidad and Tobago could be in their appeal to revoke the decision?
LL: “Well I believe CAS is always weighted more towards member associations than individual teams, athletes, and member associations.
“Also, the FIFA statutes allow these far-reaching powers in the FIFA bureau to decide where a normalization committee goes. So I would say FIFA have the advantage, but it is certainly not impossible.
“Essentially, I don’t think Trinidad and Tobago can win this without the support of other member associations.
“Football does not belong to Infantino; it doesn’t belong to the seven people in the FIFA bureau, or the four people who voted against Trinidad and Tobago. It belongs to all member associations. And if people see this injustice in the same way as I do, then they need to go to Infantino and ask him what he is doing in the name of FIFA. Is this behaviour something the world wants to see continue?
“The least I would say is, let the 210 members decide whether Trinidad and Tobago’s election last November should stand or not.”
One significant conclusion to take from this situation is the power that has been displayed by FIFA, as well as the clear geopolitical investment Infantino has, specifically in the Caribbean region of CONCACAF.
As Lasana Liburd states, as long as Infantino can get three people around the table at the FIFA bureau to agree with him then, the FIFA statutes, as they are currently written, allow him to step into any member association he wants.
By implementing a normalization committee, FIFA have essentially signalled that they can remove an entire member association, manage their daily operations, and conduct new elections for them, without even consulting the 210 members.
We have to look at this action by Infantino and other member associations have to ask themselves; is Infantino the right man to clean up football?
Moreover, is this the sort of behaviour that we should just expect from the most powerful man in football governance?
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OK, so how soon do we expect to be banned from FIFA? Does anyone know?
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Ok. So Wallace claims that the chances of FIFA suspending the TTFA is low. His reasoning is that they presented the matter to the courts as elected individuals instead of the TTFA.
So this basically means that if the TTFA is suspended, the NC (which was formed by FIFA) will be suspended as well.. Which kind of confusing. Maybe the TTFA can argue that there is no reason for suspension because the "elected individuals" brought the matter to the courts. . Not the TTFA. Very confusing now.
I feel Wallace either know something, have some kind of trump card up he sleeve or just riding on hope. I "hope" it's not the latter.
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OK, so how soon do we expect to be banned from FIFA? Does anyone know?
If they don't suspend us by Wednesday, then they might be looking at another date, or other options. The draw for regional qualifying for 2022 is on Wednesday. So it will make sense to remove the TTFA before the draw. Just my two cents
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From what I've been reading, if they do suspend the TTFA, it will be until the United TTFA agrees to provide whatever assistance is necessary and stay away from all affairs related to the NC
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It sounds like Infantino is using the NC to cover up the dirty tracks laid by himself and Mr you know who. . .
I wouldn't be surprised if the United TTFA has evidence of some wrong doing by DJW and Infantino. Infantino is currently being investigated, So the FIFA ethics committee may have the last say.
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Damned if they do, damned if they dont. .
If the TTFA is suspended, then FIFA/Infantino will look even more corrupt. Some reasons that might show this are:
- Last year Infantino applauded the work of DJW. He was was impressed at the DJW led creation of the HOF. .
- Infantino made no mention of the financial state the TTFA was in last year. It's only after his buddy was disposed by Wallace that the NC was implemented
- FIFA/Infantino was aware that DJW was hiding documents and information about financial transactions from the board. .(I believe Lok Loy informed FIFA about DJW through a letter last year).
In an ideal world, people will see what FIFA/Infantino is doing. Infantino is trying to protect DJW. Because, Infantino knows that DJW is cut throat and will throw his ass well under the bus when the sh*t hits the fan.
As I said before, the NC was implemented to clean up and cover up the work of DJW and Infantino. There is something there that the two of them trying to hide. It will come out soon. I'm sure that special prosecutor in Switzerland, who is leading the criminal investigation against Infantino, will be more than happy to hear Wallace out. Well at least lets hope so.
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We eh get ban yet?
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Deeks I wondering that too. The Concacaf draw is tomorrow. It would make sense to implement the ban before the draw. So I ain't know. If the draw take place before and we aint get ban, then that might be a good sign.
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Look Loy: It’s half-time, United TTFA 1, Fifa 0; and we’re prepared for anything!
Wired868.com.
“[…] United TTFA was not cowed by Fifa arrogance and threat—an unprecedented response from a small association. We were supposed to walk. The normalisation committee was supposed to walk in and take over. And United TTFA was supposed to be history.
“But these ‘island people’ did not. We stood…”
In the following Letter to the Editor, United TTFA member and technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy contextualises the local football body’s stance against autocratic global football juggernauts, Fifa, and its implementation of a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago:
Justice Carol Gobin’s ruling is a victory for the national sovereignty of Trinidad and Tobago, and the authority of the local judicial system over legal matters that arise within this jurisdiction.
It is an historic statement that the untrammelled and unchallenged rule of Fifa in local jurisdictions across the globe is a travesty of law and civilised governance. Fifa’s power is not infinite.
This ruling bears global significance and implications, therefore, and it is the most important development in international sports law and football governance in decades. Football people are watching—particularly in Africa, where Fifa has assumed control of the confederation itself, CAF, and where governments and football people are chafing under Fifa’s autocratic rule.
I was never in doubt regarding the outcome of this case because the preponderance of case law and precedent weighed in United TTFA’s favour. Indeed, as far back as 1991 the High Court ruled in my favour against the SSFL; in support of my right to resort to local courts to resolve a dispute despite TTFA/Fifa proscription of same.
This, therefore, is an unprecedented victory, but thoroughly logical and expected. It was possible, however, only because United TTFA was not cowed by Fifa arrogance and threat—an unprecedented response from a small association.
We were supposed to walk. The normalisation committee was supposed to walk in and take over. And United TTFA was supposed to be history.
But these ‘island people’ did not. We stood.
Judge Gobin’s ruling now brings Fifa’s normalisation committee/CAS system and culture to the fore in world football. It places discussion of Fifa’s arbitrary use of a weaponised normalisation committee and a biased CAS—as methods of political control over its membership—squarely on the table.
Currently, the imposition of a normalisation committee is not guided by criteria, and the powers of the committee are not limited by regulation. Indeed, this absence of limits allows the weaponised use of the normalisation committee to protect the personal and political interests of high Fifa officials.
When one observes recent developments in Switzerland involving the Fifa president, one understands the concern across the globe, inside and outside of football, that the manipulation of legal process and officials is endemic to Fifa’s legal and administrative culture.
The fact is, however, that United TTFA has only won the first half. There is a second half to be played, which will involve discussion of pre-United TTFA malpractice and Fifa’s role it.
I have always said this is the real reason behind the imposition of the normalisation committee: to cover up malpractice and to secure TTFA’s vote in Fifa’s global game.
Indeed, recent letters from high Fifa officials to the presidents of national associations across the globe—intended to rally support for embattled Gianni Infantino against criminal proceedings by the Swiss state—demonstrate the absolute necessity of securing his global voting bloc as protection against suspension by Fifa’s Ethics Committee.
United TTFA is ahead in a tough match against a ruthless opponent which has already indicated that if it ‘look like licks’ it will ‘mash up the match’.
In her wisdom, Justice Gobin challenged Fifa to avoid hypocrisy and live up to ‘the lofty objectives identified in Fifa statutes, and particularly Articles (3) and (4) of Fifa’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law’.
Justice Gobin continued: “I do not expect Fifa to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the Fifa Statutes.”
In other words, as a precautionary measure, she characterises any possible victimisation of TTFA as an issue of human rights and the rights of nation states.
United TTFA is prepared for the second half. We shall see how the habitual tough guy responds to such admonition from the referee.
And he is behind—not a position he is accustomed to being in.
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There are recourses against retaliation. Hopefully ego will sit in the back seat and commonsense will drive the vehicle.
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There are recourses against retaliation. Hopefully ego will sit in the back seat and commonsense will drive the vehicle.
Whose ego ?
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If we field our best team, we can go to the WC...
But that’s never the issue, it’s always admin and politics.. the question is, will WW be able to run the org and get Fenwick to work
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If we field our best team, we can go to the WC...
But that’s never the issue, it’s always admin and politics.. the question is, will WW be able to run the org and get Fenwick to work
Isn't Hadad running the show?
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Gianni Infantino: Fifa closes ethics violation case against president.
BBC Sports.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been cleared of violating the world governing body's regulations after a preliminary investigation by its ethics committee.
Infantino is the subject of a criminal investigation over an alleged secret meeting with Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber. Both deny wrongdoing.
Fifa said documents shared by the Swiss courts were scrutinised.
"No aspect of the conduct analysed constitutes a violation," it said.
"Some aspects do not even fall within the provisions of the Fifa code of ethics, or justify the adoption of any kind of measure, including that of a provisional suspension."
Earlier in August, in a letter to member associations, Infantino said any meetings were "in no way secret and most certainly not illegal".
However the Swiss admitted the criminal investigation had already "caused considerable damage to Fifa as an organisation and to myself as its president".
Infantino said the meetings with Lauber were broadly to discuss the fact the attorney general's office was investigating a series of criminal allegations in which Fifa was a damaged party.
Neither Lauber nor Infantino have been able to recollect the specific details of their final meeting in 2017.
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FIFA warn Trinidad and Tobago over High Court bid.
By Nick Said (uk.sports.yahoo).
(Reuters) - FIFA has warned Trinidad and Tobago they face suspension from international football if they pursue a dispute through the country's High Court in contravention of the world governing body's statutes.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA have been at loggerheads since March after the latter dissolved the executive of the cash-strapped association.
TTFA president William Wallace opposed this and initially took the case to FIFA’s only recognised body to hear disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but withdrew the complaint citing concerns of bias.
"The insistence of the TTFA former leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally," FIFA warned in a statement on Thursday.
"The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action."
If the TTFA stick to their guns, the matter will be discussed at the virtual FIFA Congress that is set for Sept. 18, where the Caribbean nation would face suspension.
Trinidad and Tobago’s next competitive fixture is scheduled to be against Guyana on Oct. 8, the start of their qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
RELATED NEWS
FIFA adamant CAS must decide TTFA appeal.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Despite having a judgement against them in the T&T's High Court in Port-of-Spain on August 13, football's world governing body FIFA remains adamant the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne Switzerland, will be the jurisdiction for the T&T Football Association for the right to appoint a Normalisation Committee to govern the affairs of football in the twin-island Republic.
It means, however, that T&T will be on the verge expected sanctions, should the CAS not be chosen to resolve the matter.
FIFA in March, replaced the United TTFA with a normalization committee, citing management flaws that were steering the association into insolvency, with no way to clearing its debt which FIFA estimated at US$37.4 million.
In its response on Thursday, FIFA has outlined 12 grounds for appeal which includes articles 67 of FIFA statutes which it states that (a) That provisions of Article 67 of the Respondent's Constitution were void and (b) It was outwith the jurisdiction of the Respondent, as an entity incorporated under Trinidad and Tobago legislation, to agree to submit to foreign law as FIFA statues prescribe.
However, during a seven-day period in which it had to decide on whether or not it was going to appeal, FIFA yesterday appealed the decision handed down by Justice Carol Gobin, which instructed that the matter would be heard in the High Court in T&T.
According to Gobin: “This matter is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”
In handing down her decision, Justice Gobin urged the FIFA to not exercise discrimination of any kind against the TTFA, saying: “65. As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and T&T I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in FIFA statutes and particularly articles (3) and (4) of FIFA's commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law. I do not expect FIFA to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if, after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the FIFA Statutes.”
According to FIFA yesterday: “This appeal is a formal step, and as football's world governing body, FIFA further insists that the only recognised path to resolve such a dispute is the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). The recognition of the CAS as the correct forum in which to hear the dispute is in accordance with the FIFA Statutes that all 211 FIFA member associations have agreed to, as well as in agreement with TTFA's own statutes on this matter.”
It added: “The insistence of the TTFA former leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of T&T football internationally.”
“The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action.”
William Wallace, president of the ousted TTFA which also includes vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, responded to claims by the FIFA that the country faces sanction if the CAS is not the place for the resolution, saying the only reason they ended up at the High Court, was because they went to the CAS and received no corporation.
Meanwhile, according to a FIFA press release issued yesterday it stated:
"FIFA is today (Thursday) lodging an appeal against the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago High Court issued last week to proceed with a claim from the former leadership of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) against the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council in March 2020 to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
This appeal is a formal step, and as football’s world governing body, FIFA further insists that the only recognised path to resolve such a dispute is the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). The recognition of the CAS as the correct forum in which to hear the dispute is in accordance with the FIFA Statutes that all 211 FIFA member associations have agreed to, as well as in agreement with TTFA’s own statutes on this matter.
The insistence of the TTFA former leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally.
The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action."
Wallace and his three vice presidents are also seeking a declaration that the decision to remove them in March and replace them with a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, was null, void, and of no legal or binding effect. They are represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul, and Jason Jones, while Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie are representing FIFA.
FIFA insists Trinidad and Tobago dispute has to be resolved at CAS.
FIFA.COM
FIFA is today lodging an appeal against the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago High Court issued last week to proceed with a claim from the former leadership of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) against the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council in March 2020 to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
This appeal is a formal step, and as football’s world governing body, FIFA further insists that the only recognised path to resolve such a dispute is the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). The recognition of the CAS as the correct forum in which to hear the dispute is in accordance with the FIFA Statutes that all 211 FIFA member associations have agreed to, as well as in agreement with TTFA’s own statutes on this matter.
The insistence of the TTFA former leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally.
The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action.
RELATED FIFA NEWS
Gianni Infantino: FIFA ethics committee clears president of breaking regulations
Skysports.com
FIFA's ethics committee has cleared president Gianni Infantino of breaching the governing body's regulations after a preliminary investigation.
Infantino is the subject of a criminal investigation after the Swiss special federal public prosecutor opened proceedings last week over meetings Infantino held with the country's attorney general Michael Lauber in 2016 and 2017.
In a letter to national association bosses, Infantino said the meetings were broadly to discuss the fact Lauber's office was investigating a series of criminal allegations in which FIFA was a damaged party.
Neither Lauber nor Infantino have been able to recollect the specific details but both deny any wrongdoing.
FIFA said the documents shared by the Swiss courts were examined and that "no aspect of the conduct analysed constitutes a violation".
A FIFA statement read: "After examining the relevant documentation and evidence, the chairperson of the investigatory chamber has decided to file the complaint and close the case due to the evident lack of a prima facie case regarding any alleged breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
"Based on the information available to date, no aspect of the conduct analysed constitutes a violation of the FIFA regulations - some aspects do not even fall within the provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics, or justify the adoption of any kind of measure, including that of a provisional suspension."
The committee said some parts of the complaints did not "even fall within the provisions of the FIFA code of ethics, or justify the adoption of any kind of measure, including that of a provisional suspension".
Infantino was elected in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter, who himself was the subject of criminal proceedings in 2015 and was banned from all FIFA activities by the ethics committee.
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Crisis In Nigeria Football House: FIFA Ignores Supreme Court Ruling, Insists On Pinnick
Greenbarge Reporters
2018
The world football ruling body, FIF, has over-ruled Nigeria’s Supreme Court judgment by recognizing the embattled Pinnick Amaju as the authentic chairman of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).
The Supreme Court had, on June 5, set aside Pinnick’s election and recognized Giwa as substantive chairman of the Nigeria’s football clearing house.
In a letter, the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino insisted that Pinnick is the NFF chairman because he was the one duly elected.
”It is also clear to all within the family that there can be no interference in the running of the national federations by any party, especially those outside the football family.”
The FIFA President stressed that Nigeria as a member-association of FIFA, would be at the risk of facing the world body’s sanctions if the situation continue as it is now.
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Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been cleared of violating the world governing body's regulations after a preliminary investigation by its ethics committee.
Investigation by its own ethics committee. Yep!!!
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We have investigated ourselves and cleared ourselves of all wrongdoing
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We have investigated ourselves and cleared ourselves of all wrongdoing
Who investigate whom locally ?
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Ah need feedback on the following question: Is Andre Baptiste a journalist? Card-carrying member of MATT? Anything along those lines?
Just heard a rendition from him on i95.5 on this NC-FIFA/United TTFA matter that somewhat lacked in perspective and objectivity ... although I have to acknowledge that opinion was solicited from him.
I do not disagree with everything he stated but I am disappointed by the quality of the analysis and prognostication rendered. Sport is Baptiste's bailiwick and not Dale Enoch's, yet Enoch demonstrated a superior appreciation of the big picture.
Baptiste's fevered delivery stirs the pot. Given his platform I would prefer balanced, measured and dispassionate analysis. A reactionary with a microphone stimulates reactions, but what else?
That stated, while I agree that there is a leadership vacuum in football, be an observer of the combat, not a combatant.
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We have investigated ourselves and cleared ourselves of all wrongdoing
Who investigate whom locally ?
Deeks this is what FIFA statement boils down to. A similar sentiment is regularly expressed by Police departments accused of brutality in USA
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Justice not served.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
OSMOND DOWNER has raised the point that FIFA might have flouted its own rules in its hurried removal of the William Wallace-led Trinidad and Tobago Football Association executive last March.
Downer’s reaction came after Justice Carol Gobin’s ruling gave Wallace permission to challenge FIFA’s decision to dismiss his four-month-old executive without notice or a hearing. Downer felt that natural justice was not served and that FIFA might have broken its own statutes when unceremoniously making themselves TTFA bosses, through the appointment of a Normalisation Committee headed by local businessman Robert Hadad.
“One part of FIFA statutes states that the (FIFA) Council, for serious reasons, can remove the executive of an Association,” Downer stated, “That is the Council. Not this ‘Bureau’ that made this decision way up in March. It was only confirmed by the Council two weeks ago.”
Downer, the main fashioner of the TTFA constitution, questioned how a third party could come in and just remove the executive when the TTFA’s own constitution states those officers can only be removed by the “general meeting” which comprises all TTFA member representatives.
“Remember, this constitution was approved by FIFA,” Downer pointed out.
The former school principal and FIFA referees’ instructor also felt FIFA did not go about the process of removing the TTFA executive in just fashion.
“The removal of people such as president, and from national football association and so on, is a serious matter,” he said, “It is a dismissal of the person from a high office.
“In all, all democratic societies, the laws, courts recognise something called the law of natural justice. The removal of somebody from high office is a punishment. They are punished. The laws of all democratic countries recognise that nobody should be punished unless that person has a chance to state his or her case. That is fundamental in law. It is in the TTFA constitution and FIFA statutes.”
Downer continued: “The person must be informed of what they are charged. Secondly, the person must be given an opportunity to appear and defend him or herself. It is in the TTFA constitution and it is also in FIFA statutes. And that was not done here. It wasn’t done,
“The first time these officers knew they were dismissed is when they read it in the press. That was wrong; you must give the person a chance to say something in their defence. This wasn’t done.”
RELATED NEWS
Rulings Will Make FIFA Rethink Normalisation Committee – Stewart.
Jamaica Gleaner
Harbour View Football Club Chairman Carvel Stewart believes the chances of FIFA enacting a normalisation committee to take over operations of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) in the future are low, after football’s global governing body suffered a major legal setback in their dispute with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
Stewart’s comments come after last Thursday’s ruling which saw the Trinidad and Tobago (TT) High Court refuse FIFA’s request to elevate the legal dispute between FIFA and the TTFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The decision handed down by court justice Carol Gobin also denied FIFA’s request for a stay of proceedings, giving them 21 days from Thursday to file their defence.
The November election of TTFA’s executive body, led by President William Wallace, and FIFA’s subsequent implementation of its normalisation committee to manage TTFA’s affairs are at the heart of the dispute.
Stewart, who was vice-chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association, believes that should Jamaica face a similar situation, the ruling could set a precedent that would make FIFA rethink taking a similar stance.
“I suspect, quite frankly, that FIFA will now be hesitant in taking such a fundamental step as literally overthrowing an elected organisation and putting in a normalisation committee,” Stewart told The Gleaner.
In March, FIFA instituted the committee because of TTFA’s poor financial outlook, which they claimed they uncovered during a fact-finding mission with Concacaf and an independent auditor. However, the TTFA in a statement in May said that FIFA was abusing its power, and argued that the financial issues were caused by the outgoing administration.
An attempt at mediation in June was unsuccessful as FIFA withdrew from proceedings, saying that they did not recognise Trinidad’s legal process in the matter, and requested to be heard by CAS.
Stewart described the ruling as ‘groundbreaking’ because of the rarity of a FIFA member association taking the organisation to civil court. He says should a similar situation happen in Jamaica, the ruling could provide reference for any future decisions.
“FIFA would not want to repeat that process because of the way the ruling has gone in TT,” Stewart said. “They (FIFA) have always seemed to operate with impunity, but this has now opened the door quite wide.”
SANCTION THREATS
FIFA has threatened to sanction the TTFA over their pursuit of the case, but attorney Crystal Paul, a member of the TTFA’s legal team, used Judge Gobin’s summation to address the possibility of such action.
“It would be wrong of me to comment on the hypotheticals except to echo the sentiments of the judge when she said ‘we do not expect FIFA to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if, after full ventilation of the issues, the court were to confirm the primacy of an act of Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over FIFA statutes’,” Paul said.
Another member of the TTFA’s legal team, Jason Jones, believes that the ruling forces the legal system of Trinidad and Tobago to be respected.
“Whether it’s T&T, Jamaica, Grenada, [if] any sovereign nation establishes a body by an act of Parliament and that body cannot access the local courts, then certainly it raises fundamental concerns. And this ruling clears the air and settles the issue as far as Trinidad and Tobago football is concerned,” Jones said.
Final Warning.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
FIFA has insisted that its dispute with Trinidad and Tobago has to be resolved at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or else it will take action.
Football’s international body yesterday issued what seemed a final warning to the country ahead of today’s 70th FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Congress starts at 9 a.m. as an online event and will be streamed on FIFA.com. Point four on today’s agenda is the suspension or expulsion of a member association.
“The insistence of the former TTFA leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally,” FIFA said yesterday in a media release.
“The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action.”
The Congress gives FIFA the framework to suspend T&T if it so desires, after the TTFA flouted one of FIFA’S most intimidating statutes by taking the world body to the country’s High Court.
The “United TTFA” faction of the local association, led by president William Wallace, challenged FIFA’s March 17 decision to replace the executive with its own normalisation committee.
And in a landmark decision, Justice Carol Gobin gave them leave to challenge FIFA’S decision before the High Court while affording FIFA seven days to appeal or 21 days to prepare its case.
Prior to that ruling, the world body had stated “FIFA does not, and will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in Trinidad and Tobago to decide on the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee currently appointed to run football in the territory.”
Even so, FIFA indicated yesterday it would be lodging an appeal against the ruling.
“This appeal is a formal step, and as football’s world governing body, FIFA further insists that the only recognised path to resolve such a dispute is the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
“If they have (appealed), I am not aware of it,” United TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle said. “(But) if it was filed tomorrow, I don’t think there is anything we could do about it.”
Aware of the agenda contents of today’s FIFA Congress, Gayle said it was a “standard agenda item” so he did not know if T&T had been tabled.
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president Randy Harris had expressed concern, in an I95.5FM radio interview, that T&T’s bold action would bring sanctions, given that the court judgment set a previously untested precedent to other member associations (MAs) that FIFA could be challenged.
“This is a big, big decision in the football world because all of the MA’s (are) at this time believing they play under the FIFA statutes and their governance,” Harris said.
After challenging FIFA’s decision and winning the first motion in court, ousted TTFA president Wallace recently told the Express that his was a journey to be heard. He said he was prepared to face whatever would be the consequence.
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Infantino praised the work of the TTFA while DJW was running the show. During that time, he did not suggest in any way that the TTFAs "fiscal house" was a concern to FIFA.
I really think that the implementation of the NC is to cover up DJWs tracks and protect Infantino. If some evidence turns up about Infantino having knowledge of DJWs shady dealings, Infantino will be seen as just another corrupt FIFA president.
I also think Wallace knows something. I dont think he will go into a fight riding on hope and reason. The threat of a suspension is real (which will have huge negative repercussions for football in TT), despite that he refuses to follow orders and back down. .
It's about to get interesting.
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Judgment day
By Philippe Auclair (josimarfootball.com)
In matters of law, the most publicised cases are not necessarily the most momentous. Who would have thought that the court action brought by RFC Ličge midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman against the Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL would transform football as it did after the European Court of Justice ruled in his favour on 15 December 1995?
Another date might yet be seen to have been as significant in the future: Thursday 13 August 2020, when Justice Carol Gobin ruled in favour of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in their dispute against FIFA in the High Court of the Caribbean nation. FIFA is not used to be taken to court by one of its member associations; it is even less used to losing a case of that kind. But this was exactly what happened; in fact, this was the first time ever that it had.
TTFA vs. FIFA
The particulars of this complex case can be summed up thus: on 17 March of this year, the newly-elected board of the TTFA was the subject of a ‘normalisation order’ issued by Veron Mosengo-Omba, FIFA’s Director of Member Associations for the Caribbean and Africa. A ‘normalisation committee’ was put in place by FIFA, headed by Robert Haddad, a local businessman with no background in football. Short of suspension or expulsion, this was the heaviest sanction FIFA could impose on one of its 211 Member Associations (MA). Why it was imposed, and how it could be seen as a politically-motivated move, even an act of revenge, was explained in detail by Josimar here and here.
The TTFA first sought to fight this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but could not gather the necessary funds to have the case heard at the Lausanne tribunal, where they’d have to cover the legal costs of FIFA as well their own. FIFA, one of CAS’s main financial contributors, has a statutory right to force opposing parties to pay for the whole process and exercised it in this instance, knowing full well that the impoverished TTFA didn’t have the means to foot the bill. As this avenue was now blocked to them, TTFA’s president William Wallace and his board took what looked like a desperate gamble at the time: with the help of pro bono lawyers, they opened proceedings against FIFA at the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago, a move that many thought far too risky. But this gamble paid off – at least in court, when Justice Carol Gobin delivered her verdict on 13 August.
The TTFA wished to demonstrate that FIFA had violated its own statutes by establishing a normalisation committee; and beyond that, that the law of Trinidad and Tobago superseded the authority of FIFA in matters pertaining to the TTFA. Justice Gobin ruled in favour of the TTFA on all counts, delivering an unambiguous 23-page ruling, written in robust English which must have caused a lot of unease in Zurich.
Her ruling hinged in part on what she considered a breach of FIFA’s Statute 19.2, which reads: “A member association’s bodies shall be either elected or appointed in that association. A member association’s statutes shall provide for a democratic procedure that guarantees the complete independence of the election or appointment“. As Justice Gobin put it, how could FIFA then assume “extraordinary power to control the day to day affairs of TTFA?”.
Moreover, she said, “it is outwith the jurisdiction of an entity incorporated under our legislation to agree to submit to foreign law as Fifa Statutes prescribe… Fifa could not presume to be above the law [our italics]”.
Justice Gobin was not too impressed either by FIFA’s refusal to pay its fair share at a possible CAS hearing. “[FIFA’s] refusal to pay the advance costs rendered the arbitration inoperable”, she said. In any case, she didn’t think “that arbitration would be the appropriate forum for the resolution of this dispute […] This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports. [our italics]”.
This was a point on which FIFA clearly disagreed, as shown in the statement it published to explain its decision to appeal against the High Court’s ruling. It read: “FIFA […] insists that the only recognised path to resolve such a dispute is the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). The recognition of the CAS as the correct forum in which to hear the dispute is in accordance with the FIFA Statutes that all 211 FIFA member associations have agreed to, as well as in agreement with TTFA’s own statutes on this matter”.
The question remains: why did the High Court’s decision matter so much? And would its impact be felt way beyond Port-of-Spain?
“Has opened the door”
Whilst the matter is not closed – FIFA lodged an appeal at the 11th hour, and Justice Gobin still has to rule on the ‘substantive case’, for which FIFA was given a three weeks extension to file its defence – it constitutes more than a mere slap on the wrist for Gianni Infantino’s organisation. It represents an unprecedented challenge to its self-proclaimed right to be the supreme authority on world football which, if upheld, could have dramatic consequences on the game’s governance. It would also put in question the role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the ultimate arbitrator in disputes involving FIFA.
Why couldn’t any other MA do exactly the same as what the TTFA had done when subjected to a normalisation order by FIFA? Of course, not every MA has a legal status comparable to that of TTFA in its home country, nor do the laws of Trinidad and Tobago have a universal value.
There have been other ‘test cases’ in the recent past, which appeared to challenge the supremacy of CAS and the very principle of supranationality in sports governance, and ultimately did not, such as the so-called Pechstein Saga and the Decision of the Oberlandesgericht München: neither had the impact that been hoped for, or feared. There is a significant difference in this case, however. The ruling emanated from a country’s supreme judicial body, not from an obscure county court, and FIFA had chosen – foolishly? – to fight back in court, and lost, at least for now.
Now a precedent has been set: FIFA cannot “presume to be above the law”, a message which immediately found an echo in neighbouring Jamaica, whose federation, the JFF, has been on FIFA’s watchlist for a while and has feared normalisation for a number of months now.
A few days after the ruling, the Vice-chairman of the Jamaican Premier League Clubs Association Carvel Stewart was telling a local paper: “[…] FIFA will now be hesitant in taking such a fundamental step as literally overthrowing an elected organisation and putting in a normalisation committee. FIFA would not want to repeat that process because of the way the ruling has gone in T&T. They have always seemed to operate with impunity, but this has now opened the door quite wide.”
This, too, is the view of one of the main actors in the TTFA vs. FIFA affair, president of the TT Super League and chairman of the TTFA technical committee Keith Look-Loy, who insists on the global dimension of both the predicament his FA found itself in and the judgement made in his country’s High Court, as he explained in a letter sent to the editor of the T&T website Wired868.com.
“When one observes recent developments in Switzerland involving the Fifa president, one understands the concern across the globe, inside and outside of football, that the manipulation of legal process and officials is endemic to Fifa’s legal and administrative culture”, he wrote. “I have always said this is the real reason behind the imposition of the normalisation committee: to cover up malpractice and to secure TTFA’s vote in Fifa’s global game”.
“Indeed, recent letters from high Fifa officials to the presidents of national associations across the globe—intended to rally support for embattled Gianni Infantino against criminal proceedings by the Swiss state—demonstrate the absolute necessity of securing his global voting bloc as protection against suspension by Fifa’s Ethics Committee (*)”.
Look-Loy was just as sanguine when Josimar contacted him a few days ago. “In terms of football governance, [the High Court’s] decision must be the biggest in decades when it comes to FIFA”, he told us. “I really do not see [another] national court telling its citizens that FIFA law trumped its own. FIFA is not supreme, FIFA’s power is not infinite, and this is of huge significance for the future of football governance. This calls into question the whole normalisation committee/CAS network, if I may call it that. A friend was telling me recently: “FIFA is a bully, and bullies win”. I answered, “yes, bullies win – until they don’t.”
On the TTFA’s side, the main worry now is that FIFA, which decided to bring Justice Gobin’s decision to T&T’s Court of Appeal late on Thursday evening, could retaliate by suspending it from its competitions, when the Soca Warriors have just been drawn against Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico and Bahamas in the preliminary stage of the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Not too much should be read in the fourth item on the agenda of FIFA’s forthcoming Congress, which will be held online on 18 September: “suspension or exclusion of a member”. This is a statutory item which is included in every agenda of this kind and carries no particular sinister significance; but what is true is that expulsion from FIFA can only occur when ordered by the Congress, and that suspensions must be ratified by it too. What is also true is that the closing paragraphs of the FIFA statement published late on 20 August, in which the governing body announced it had lodged an appeal, could be read as a threat, and not a particularly subtle one at that.
It read: “The insistence of the TTFA former leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally.”
“The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action”.
What other ‘potential further action’ could be envisaged apart from suspension, or even expulsion?
Unsettled times lie ahead for both the TTFA and for FIFA. The former has been in limbo for over five months now, and many of its employees, including coaches, haven’t been paid a cent during that period. FIFA cannot operate properly without supranational powers being accepted as part of the deal by its Member Associations; but it overstepped the mark, at least according to the T&T High Court, and must now face the prospect of more challenges coming its way should it overstep again.
The paradox at the heart of the affair is that the TTFA is as isolated as it has ever been, in its own region and elsewhere. A few leading figures in Caribbean football have privately expressed their satisfaction with the ruling, but none of them has dared to do so in public as yet. Victor Montigliani’s CONCACAF distanced itself from the TTFA from the outset, and shows no sign of changing that stance. None of the Caribbean Member Associations has made a public show of solidarity with the TTFA administration. Yet many of them might benefit from what it dared to do.
And once again, Jean-Marc Bosman’s case comes to mind.
Excerpts from Justice Gobin’s judgment“
There is an inherent contradiction in the Fifa’s purported appointment of a normalisation committee, the purpose of which has been to usurp the powers and functions of the executive of the TTFA on the one hand and its insistence on holding the TTFA to the arbitration agreement on the other. The Claimant [i.e. the TTFA] properly asks the question: ‘whom does FIFA hold to that agreement’.
“In other words, if Fifa disputes the authority of [TTFA elected president] Mr Wallace and others to act on behalf of TTFA, and TTFA is under the control of the normalisation committee—how does it reconcile that with its insistence that these very persons who have no authority to file these court [documents] should commence arbitration proceedings in Switzerland?
“The arbitration process cannot be triggered if there is a dispute as to the capacity of one of the parties to invoke the process and to bind TTFA to any outcome.
“By its challenge to the authority of persons to bring this action, in which proceedings were signed by the President, Mr Wallace and the board of directors named in the arbitration proceedings, the arbitration was rendered inoperable.”
“In its interpretation and application of the rules, the [CAS] court office effectively denied access to the prescribed method of achieving dispute resolution to the undeniably weaker of the parties, Fifa was at all times aware of the dire state of the TTFA’s finances, which predated the installation of the new Board of Directors in office in November 2019.
“Rules which were intended to level the playing field, in the words of the Privy Council allowed ‘the strong to push the weak to the wall’ (Janet Boustany v George Pigott Co, Antigua and Barbuda [1993] UKPC) […] In this case, not only has Fifa unequivocally refused to comply with the CAS 64.2 rule, thumbing its nose at its obligations to pay under the agreement, it further paralysed the arbitral process by obtaining an extension of time to answer the case until after TTFA paid its (Fifa’s) costs.
“This together with the refusal to recognise the [TTFA] Board of Directors was sufficient to establish a wider pattern of repudiatory conduct and in the circumstances of this case I find that the refusal to pay the advance costs rendered the arbitration inoperable.
“Had Parliament intended to enact Fifa Statutes so as to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and to effectively deprive the TTFA of access to the courts of this country, it would have had to do so expressly in clear and unambiguous terms. The dispute in this case falls under Article 67 of TTFA’s Constitution under which TTFA agreed to subscribe to the exclusive jurisdiction of CAS. A statutory corporation which is empowered to make rules for its operations goes too far when it makes rules or adopt rules which foreclose access to the courts of the country”.
“I do not think that arbitration would be the appropriate forum for the resolution of this dispute. This case goes well beyond TTFA’s alleged governance issues and the justifiability of Fifa’s purported action in appointing the Normalisation Committee. This is about the legitimacy of powers exercised under Article 8.2 of the Fifa Statutes and its consistency with a law passed by legislators in this country. This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”
“Had Parliament intended to enact Fifa Statutes so as to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and to effectively deprive the TTFA of access to the courts of this country, it would have had to do so expressly in clear and unambiguous terms,” stated the High Court. “[…] The dispute in this case falls under Article 67 of TTFA’s Constitution under which TTFA agreed to subscribe to the exclusive jurisdiction of CAS. A statutory corporation which is empowered to make rules for its operations goes too far when it makes rules or adopt rules which foreclose access to the courts of the country. Moreover it is outwith the jurisdiction of an entity incorporated under our legislation to agree to submit to foreign law as Fifa Statutes prescribe… Fifa could not presume to be above the law.”
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We have investigated ourselves and cleared ourselves of all wrongdoing
Who investigate whom locally ?
Deeks this is what FIFA statement boils down to. A similar sentiment is regularly expressed by Police departments accused of brutality in USA
when did we investigate ourselves. Is FIFA who did the investigation. I can't remember a local body investigating TTFA. I remember a piece done by flow.
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Deeks. I’m saying that FIFA is claiming to have investigated themselves.
When I said “we” I was attributing that “quote” to them (FIFA)
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FIFA: Wallace had no power to initiate legal proceedings.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
NO AUTHORITY
DOES William Wallace have the authority to challenge FIFA before the Trinidad and Tobago High Court?
This is one of the avenues attorneys representing football’s world governing body FIFA will explore in its appeal to Justice Carol Gobin’s August 13 decision giving “United TTFA”, represented by TTFA president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents, leave to challenge their March 2020 dismissal and FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee to run Trinidad and Tobago football.
On Thursday, FIFA filed notice of appeal in a 34-page document. Representing FIFA are attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie of Port of Spain law firm, M. Hamel-Smith & Co. New City law firm attorneys Mathew GW Gayle, Dr Emir Crowne, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul represent United TTFA.
Among things FIFA is seeking is that Justice Carol Gobin’s verdict be rendered null and that TTFA’s case be dismissed or alternatively, proceedings be stayed. In the absence of both, FIFA sought an extension of 28 days after determination of the appeal in order to begin a defence. FIFA representatives also applied to have its legal costs paid by Wallace’s party.
The world governing body maintains a stance that Wallace had been stripped of all power.
“The learned judge erred by failing to hold that the president of the respondent (TTFA) did not have the authority under the respondent’s constitution to commence these proceedings,” FIFA’S appeal stated. “FIFA contends that the effect of the appointment of the normalisation committee was to immediately and unceremoniously strip the duly elected Executive Board of Directors of its powers under TTFA’s constitution.”
In its appeal, FIFA points out that the nature of the relationship between FIFA and the TTFA is contractual. The legal framework for FIFA’s relationship with its member associations is set out in its statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA (as well as Swiss Law).
The FIFA Statutes are FIFA’s constitution and they set out the terms and conditions of each individual association’s membership. Therefore, by joining the world body, FIFA said, the TTFA agreed wholly to abide by its dictates.
“TTFA has since 1964 (prior to incorporation) been a member of FIFA as the association that represents Trinidad and Tobago. It is this membership that entitles Trinidad and Tobago to participate in international tournaments and matches against the national teams of other member associations of FIFA.”
Further, FIFA in its appeal maintains that its contract with the TTFA is binding.
“The learned judge erred in law by failing to give effect to the binding agreement between the appellant (FIFA) and the respondent (TTFA) as contained in the FIFA Statutes that precluded the commencement of these proceedings before the ordinary courts in this jurisdiction.”
FIFA will also challenge other aspects of Justice Gobin’s verdict.
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Wallace vows to press on with the fight.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
NOT INTIMIDATED
WILLIAM WALLACE will not be intimidated by FIFA, and has vowed to press on with his court battle against football’s world governing body.
The former Carapichaima Government Secondary School vice-principal views a recent FIFA press release as a threat but vows to continue his fight “to be heard”. But, having taken recent court action against FIFA as “United TTFA” and using their own financial means, Wallace does not believe the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association has to fear FIFA sanctions.
“It is a threat to us,” Wallace declared.” It a threat to William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Wallace and Sam Phillip.”
With its 70th FIFA Congress due to be held in Zurich, Switzerland, in just under a month’s time FIFA could, according to its rules, bring sanctions against the TTFA for contravening FIFA statutes barring association from taking disputes to local courts. The FIFA Congress is scheduled to take place virtually on September 18 and one of the tabled agenda points is suspension or expulsion of a member association.
Wallace and his three vice-presidents laid a claim before the T&T High Court in May, challenging FIFA’s decision to replace their four-month TTFA executive with its normalisation committee, which has been given the mandate to run T&T football. United TTFA then won the opening court matter on August 13 when Justice Carol Gobin ruled that the High Court has jurisdiction to hear their claim. FIFA has since appealed the verdict.
FIFA laws specifically prevent member associations from taking such matters to local courts and on Thursday, it issued what seemed a final warning to Trinidad and Tobago via a media release.
“The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both FIFA and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for consideration and potential further action,” FIFA’s statement said.
FIFA further maintained that its dispute with T&T needed to be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), located in Switzerland where FIFA is based, and not the local High Court.
“The insistence of the former TTFA leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally,” FIFA said.
Wallace re-emphasised that his group had done everything to comply with FIFA law and had many times sought mediation. They then went to CAS before withdrawing in May, citing unfair procedures, and finally took their case to the High Court.
“We did go the road of CAS and we were not fairly dealt with by FIFA, in terms of their cooperation and so on. So we did go down that road. When we could not get justice down that road, and that justice was denied, we decided to go the other way and this is where we are — that point.”
Wallace said the next move is FIFA’s, although he recently said he is still open to dialogue.
“FIFA has appealed the matter. So, as far as we are concerned the matter is before the court,” Wallace stated.
RELATED NEWS
Ousted TTFA pres responds to FIFA's appeal.
T&T Guardian Reports.
William Wallace, ousted president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), yesterday sent out a press release in response to FIFA's appeal to the ruling of Madame Justice Carol Gobin.
The letter, to which was signed by Wallace as president, is as follows:
23rd August 2020
The TTFA notes that FIFA has appealed the ruling of the Honourable Madame Justice Gobin, but notes with some concern that FIFA has described this appeal as a mere ‘formal step’ and that FIFA has again threatened “potential further action” against the TTFA.
This comes on the heels of their previous statement that: “FIFA does not, and will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in Trinidad and Tobago...”.
These statements suggest the contempt with which FIFA holds our Courts, our people and our Nation.
FIFA has wrongly sought to imply that the TTFA leadership have insisted in bringing the claim to the Trinidad and Tobago Courts, when it was FIFA who refused to do all that was necessary to facilitate the CAS process, as the Honourable Madame Justice Gobin observed in her ruling:
In this case, not only has FIFA unequivocally refused to comply with the CAS 64(2) rule, thumbing its nose at its obligations to pay under the agreement, it further paralysed the arbitral process by obtaining an extension of time to answer the case until after TTFA paid its (FIFA’s) costs... [FIFA] rendered the arbitration inoperable.
Contrary to FIFA’s statements, the TTFA has also tried not less than six (6) times to formally engage FIFA in talks formal and/or informal, for the two parties to come together to resolve the issues in the interest of Football in Trinidad and Tobago. The latest effort came immediately after
The Honourable Madame Justice Gobin’s ruling. FIFA has refused to engage in any discussions, forcing the TTFA as a last resort to turn to the Courts.
Not since 1962 have the people of Trinidad and Tobago allowed themselves to be forcibly subjugated in the manner that FIFA now seeks to do. In the words of Justice Gobin, FIFA now threatens to “take its ball and go home”. But by doing so however, FIFA would be accepting and confirming that the Normalisation Committee it claims to have appointed lacks not only moral legitimacy, but legal legitimacy too.
TTFA now looks to the hearing of the matter in the local Court of Appeal.
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Infantino praised the work of the TTFA while DJW was running the show. During that time, he did not suggest in any way that the TTFAs "fiscal house" was a concern to FIFA.
I really think that the implementation of the NC is to cover up DJWs tracks and protect Infantino. If some evidence turns up about Infantino having knowledge of DJWs shady dealings, Infantino will be seen as just another corrupt FIFA president.
I also think Wallace knows something. I dont think he will go into a fight riding on hope and reason. The threat of a suspension is real (which will have huge negative repercussions for football in TT), despite that he refuses to follow orders and back down. .
It's about to get interesting.
The cover up is definitely part of it, but the sabotaging of our football? You can thief and still do well with the team, keep the best coaches and not sabotage ...
This is beyond infantino, he just got another free pass.. it’s more than just this, it’s ensuring TT is not a powerful team or association
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Fifa vows to bring TTFA ‘in line’, lodges appeal against High Court ruling.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Fifa, the world governing football body, has vowed to bring the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) ‘in line’ and warned of ‘potential further action’ against the member association, as a result of High Court action taken by the TTFA’s elected officials.
Last week, TTFA president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph Warrick and Sam Phillip secured a potentially seismic legal triumph over Fifa, when High Court Judge Carol Gobin ruled that the local officials were not bound by an arbitration clause with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and could take Fifa to court here.
Fifa, which is headed by president Gianni Infantino, declared this afternoon that it will appeal Justice Gobin’s ruling.
“Fifa is today lodging an appeal against the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago High Court issued last week,” stated a Fifa release, “to proceed with a claim from the former leadership of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) against the decision of the Bureau of the Fifa Council in March 2020 to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA.
“This appeal is a formal step, and as football’s world governing body, Fifa further insists that the only recognised path to resolve such a dispute is the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
“The recognition of the CAS as the correct forum in which to hear the dispute is in accordance with the Fifa Statutes that all 211 Fifa member associations have agreed to, as well as in agreement with TTFA’s own statutes on this matter.”
Fifa warned too of potential action against the TTFA, after Wallace and his vice-presidents’ refusal to abide by its ruling.
“The insistence of the TTFA former leadership to bring this matter to a local court instead of the established dispute resolution forum at CAS greatly endangers the overall football structure in the country,” stated Fifa, “and endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally.
“The absence of a resolution that is in line with the statutes of both Fifa and TTFA will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant Fifa bodies for consideration and potential further action.”
The TTFA is represented legally by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul while Fifa is represented in this action by local attorneys: Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.
Last week, Justice Gobin noted Fifa’s repeated threats to the local game and the respective TTFA officials in particular and warned the Zurich-based body to be mindful of its own lofty humanitarian goals.
“As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and Trinidad and Tobago, I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in Fifa statutes,” stated Justice Gobin, “and particularly articles (3) and (4) of Fifa’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law.
“I do not expect Fifa to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the Fifa Statutes.”
Fifa will hold its 70th Congress online on Friday 18 September and its fourth agenda item is the ‘suspension or expulsion of a member’. However, Fifa’s appeal against Justice Gobin’s judgment is unlikely to have been heard by then.
It is left to be seen if Fifa would initiate such drastic action against the TTFA in the midst of a court case with the latter’s officials.
The Soca Warriors are scheduled to open their Qatar 2020 World Cup qualifying campaign on Thursday 8 October with a home game against Guyana. Were Fifa to suspend the TTFA, such action would automatically expel the Men’s National Senior Team from the competition outright.
RELATED NEWS
Justice Gobin: ‘Fifa could not presume to be above the law’! Infantino-led body accused of ‘thumbing nose’ at fair play in TTFA attack
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Madame Justice Carol Gobin handed down a comprehensive defeat to global football body, Fifa, in the Port of Spain High Court today, in a decision that is likely to be read closely across the planet.
The TTFA was represented legally by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers. Fifa was represented by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co.
On 17 March, the Bureau of the Fifa Council—headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino—ordered a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago and declared that Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace, vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, as well as its board of directors had been immediately replaced.
Wallace and his vice-presidents have resisted the ruling in the local High Court. However, Fifa urged the High Court to accede to arbitration clauses in the constitution of both football bodies and instead send the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or dismiss the TTFA’s case outright.
Justice Gobin did neither. Instead, she ruled that Fifa’s conduct in its implementation of the normalisation committee was a violation of its statutes while its behaviour in relation to the TTFA rendered the arbitration clause ‘inoperable’.
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura said repeatedly that the governing body does not recognise Wallace and his vice-presidents as the representatives of the TTFA and only considers normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad as the head of the local game.
How then, Justice Gobin asked in her 24-page ruling, can Fifa logically recognise Wallace’s authority before the CAS?
“There is an inherent contradiction in the Fifa’s purported appointment of a normalisation committee, the purpose of which has been to usurp the powers and functions of the executive of the TTFA on the one hand,” stated the High Court judge, “and its insistence on holding the TTFA to the arbitration agreement on the other. The Claimant properly asks the question: ‘whom does FIFA hold to that agreement’.
“In other words, if Fifa disputes the authority of Mr Wallace and others to act on behalf of TTFA, and TTFA is under the control of the normalisation committee—how does it reconcile that with its insistence that these very persons who have no authority to file these court [documents] should commence arbitration proceedings in Switzerland?
“The arbitration process cannot be triggered if there is a dispute as to the capacity of one of the parties to invoke the process and to bind TTFA to any outcome.
“[…] By its challenge to the authority of persons to bring this action, in which proceedings were signed by the President, Mr Wallace and the board of directors named in the arbitration proceedings, the arbitration was rendered inoperable.”
The High Court further ruled that Fifa had ‘not demonstrated that it is ready and willing to do all things necessary to the proper conduct of the arbitration’.
Wallace initially sought to defend his position at the CAS, only to withdraw citing bias from the Swiss-based arbitration body. Justice Gobin was not satisfied with Fifa’s behaviour at the CAS either.
The judge pointed to Fifa’s refusal to pay its share of arbitration fees upfront as well as the CAS’ decision to allow the governing body an extension to file its answer until after the TTFA paid fees for both parties.
“In its interpretation and application of the rules, the [CAS] court office effectively denied access to the prescribed method of achieving dispute resolution to the undeniably weaker of the parties,” stated Justice Gobin. “Fifa was at all times aware of the dire state of the TTFA’s finances, which predated the installation of the new Board of Directors in office in November 2019.
“Rules which were intended to level the playing field, in the words of the Privy Council allowed ‘the strong to push the weak to the wall’ (Janet Boustany v George Pigott Co, Antigua and Barbuda [1993] UKPC).
“[…] In this case, not only has Fifa unequivocally refused to comply with the CAS 64.2 rule, thumbing its nose at its obligations to pay under the agreement, it further paralysed the arbitral process by obtaining an extension of time to answer the case until after TTFA paid its (Fifa’s) costs.
“This together with the refusal to recognise the [TTFA] Board of Directors was sufficient to establish a wider pattern of repudiatory conduct and in the circumstances of this case I find that the refusal to pay the advance costs rendered the arbitration inoperable.
“The stay of proceedings would not have been granted in the circumstances.”
Fifa’s attorneys had argued that, although the TTFA’s Constitution did not expressly grant power to the world governing body to override its affairs, this was irrelevant since the local football body agreed to conduct its affairs in accordance with Fifa mandates. As such, they argued that Fifa’s Statutes trumped the TTFA’s Constitution.
However, Justice Gobin pointed to article 19 of the Fifa Statutes:
1. Each member association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties.
2. A member association’s bodies shall be either elected or appointed in that association. A member association’s statutes shall provide for a democratic procedure that guarantees the complete independence of the election or appointment.
3. Any member association’s bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with the provisions of par 2, even on an interim basis, shall not be recognised by FIFA.
4. Decisions passed by bodies that have not been elected or appointed in compliance with par 2 shall not be recognised by Fifa.
“Fifa may yet have to justify its purported assumption of extraordinary power to control the day to day affairs of TTFA,” stated Justice Gobin, “including authority to review and amend its statutes and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
“This appears to be in breach of FIFA Statute 19.2.”
And, crucially, Justice Gobin ruled that Fifa had no right to deprive its member associations of the right to seek determination from its local courts.
“Had Parliament intended to enact Fifa Statutes so as to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and to effectively deprive the TTFA of access to the courts of this country, it would have had to do so expressly in clear and unambiguous terms,” stated the High Court. “[…] The dispute in this case falls under Article 67 of TTFA’s Constitution under which TTFA agreed to subscribe to the exclusive jurisdiction of CAS. A statutory corporation which is empowered to make rules for its operations goes too far when it makes rules or adopt rules which foreclose access to the courts of the country.
“Moreover it is outwith the jurisdiction of an entity incorporated under our legislation to agree to submit to foreign law as Fifa Statutes prescribe… Fifa could not presume to be above the law.”
Justice Gobin further stated that Fifa’s attempted ‘ouster clause’ for local courts was insufficient to deny its application by member associations. She pointed to Lord Reid’s ruling in Anisminic v Foreign Compensation Commission HL [1969] 2 AC 147, which said:
“It is a well-established principle that a provision ousting the ordinary jurisdiction of the court must be construed strictly, meaning I think, that if such a provision is reasonably capable of having two meanings, that meaning shall be taken which preserve the ordinary jurisdiction of the courts.”
A key point by Fifa is that the CAS is the best venue to determine whether the governing body was justified in intervening in the TTFA’s internal affairs.
However, Justice Gobin did not agree that this was a matter of justifying Fifa intervention at all. For her, it was a case of if Fifa had the right to intervene in the first place, through the implementation of a normalisation committee.
“I do not think that arbitration would be the appropriate forum for the resolution of this dispute,” stated Justice Gobin. “This case goes well beyond TTFA’s alleged governance issues and the justifiability of Fifa’s purported action in appointing the Normalisation Committee. This is about the legitimacy of powers exercised under Article 8.2 of the Fifa Statutes and its consistency with a law passed by legislators in this country.
“This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”
Justice Gobin noted Fifa’s threats to take draconian action to the detriment of the local game.
Hamel-Smith told the High Court that Wallace’s use of the local courts ‘renders TTFA susceptible to be suspended from Fifa’s membership—aside from the direct implications for TTFA such as suspension will impact the country of Trinidad and Tobago whose various nationals teams will no longer be allowed to partake in international tournaments and matches. This compromises the careers, livelihood, education and other prospect for players’.
However, Justice Gobin suggested that Fifa would be in violation of its own humanitarian goals if it took such an action against Trinidad and Tobago’s football.
“As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and Trinidad and Tobago, I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in Fifa statutes,” stated Justice Gobin, “and particularly articles (3) and (4) of Fifa’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law.
“I do not expect Fifa to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the Fifa Statutes.”
Justice Gobin granted Fifa a 21-day extension to file a defence to the TTFA’s injunction against its normalisation committee. However, Fifa’s application for stay and all other aspects of its application was dismissed.
Fifa was also ordered to ‘pay the claimants costs to be assessed by this court in default of agreement’.
Infantino, according to football sources, vowed, beforehand, to convene the Bureau of the Fifa Council immediately after the High Court decision to consider action against Wallace, his vice-presidents and the TTFA—if he did not get his way.
The Fifa Bureau is its emergency committee and includes Infantino and presidents of its six confederations, including Concacaf.
On Wednesday 19 August, Concacaf will hold its draw for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying schedule. A Fifa suspension over the coming days would automatically rule the Soca Warriors out of the draw.
Infantino’s legal problems are in no way restricted to the TTFA. Two weeks ago, Swiss special prosecutor Stefan Keller initiated a criminal investigation against the Fifa president as result of secret meetings between the football jefe and Switzerland Attorney General Michael Lauber.
Keller, who was appointed on 29 June by the Supervisory Authority for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), found enough evidence to indict Infantino, Lauber and Chief Public Prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold on abuse of public office, breach of official secrecy and assisting offenders—which are article 312, 320 and 305 of the Swiss Criminal Code respectively.
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endangers the position of Trinidad and Tobago football internationally.
This is real joke statement. What position does TT hold in international football that will affect football. If we held such high position, how come we can't even get Venezuela to play we. When was the last time Brazil came to TT to play our highly respectable football team. When was the last time we got an invitation from Germany, France or Italy to play in, Paris, Rome or Berlin? f---k fifa!!!!!
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Griffith: Heavy price if Fifa court matter continues
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
COMMISSIONER of Police (CoP) Gary Griffith says if the United T&T Football Association (TTFA), led by William Wallace, continues to fight world governing body Fifa in court, the development of football in T&T will be affected. He is asking for the matter to be resolved through mediation.
"I have the world of respect for Mr Wallace and his slate, and I do believe that they have a major role to play in the development of our football in the near future. In fact, this was endorsed by them being appointed to do just that in the last election," Griffith said in a media release.
Griffith believes T&T football will come out on the losing end.
"The end cannot justify the means by the present course of action, because as with any mission, one cannot just look at the short-term result, but instead look towards the domino effect, as it relates to what would trigger another reaction by Fifa. This is what any good leader, manager, administrator, player, supporter or patriot of football would do in this situation."
The United TTFA is currently in a court battle against Fifa.
On March 17, Fifa removed former TTFA president Wallace and his executive from office (deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip). They had been elected in November 2019.
Fifa appointed a normalisation committee led by local businessman Robert Hadad to run local football for two years, saying the decision was made because of the association’s financial woes and “massive debt.”
In April, the ousted executive made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, saying the decision was a breach of the TTFA’s constitution. Wallace and his team then felt they would not get a "fair hearing" from CAS and appealed to the local High Court on May 18.
On August 13, Justice Carol Gobin said that the matter must be resolved in T&T, but days later, Fifa insisted it must be resolved by CAS.
T&T footballers will not get the opportunity to represent their country if the battle continues, according to the CoP.
"Any club or zone supporting the present stance to take Fifa to court is virtually agreeing that we are prepared to have all of our national teams shut down, and banned from participating in all competitive and friendly international tournaments and matches, inclusive of the upcoming World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup."
Giving more details on how he thinks the current fight against Fifa will affect local football, Griffith said, "This would also mean massive loss of revenue from several quarters, inclusive of the same Fifa, as well as sponsorship, and support from the private and public sector, which we cannot swallow at this time, especially with the massive debt that the normalisation committee is presently trying to pay off...the present direction would just add fuel to the fire and sink us further."
Griffith said players in their late 20s and early 30s are "looking forward to what may be their possible final chance to represent their country" in top-level international football.
He added that "several young players in that squad (are) now looking to establish their professional and international careers...we must not be dream killers for young people in our country."
Griffith said the football fans in T&T want to see T&T football rise to the pinnacle of the sport again.
"You do not do all it takes to win a battle, just to lose a war. Nobody wins if we go down the road via the local court, especially for our country, for our football development, and for the dreams of many, not just players, but the hundreds of thousands of supporters who would lose the opportunity to dream of one day seeing a repeat of what we achieved in 2006."
The 2006 World Cup in Germany is the only time T&T qualified for the Fifa World Cup.
In early July, Fifa considered resolving the situation with United TTFA through mediation, but that option fell through. Griffith is hoping the parties will consider that option again.
"Let us rectify our differences via mediation and respect for each other, which can then become a win-win for all. I am confident that Mr Wallace and United TTFA, Mr Hadad and the normalisation committee, Fifa, Concacaf and every football-loving citizen in this country would prefer (that)."
RELATED NEWS
Griffith calls on Wallace to re-think his stance.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has come out against United T&T Football Association with their fight against FIFA to overturn a decision to appoint a Normalisation Committee to manage local football.
Griffith, who was a former manager at the T&T Defence Force football team, in a release on Monday said while he has the world of respect for United TTFA president William Wallace and his team, which was endorsed generally by them being voted in as administrators after last year's TTFA elections, he noted that the end cannot justify the means, by their present course of action, as with any mission one cannot just look at the short-term result, but instead look towards the domino effect, as it relates to what would trigger another reaction by FIFA, saying “This is what any good leader, manager, administrator, player, supporter or patriot of football would do in this situation.”
According to Griffith, a former hockey player, wrote, “Any club or Zone supporting the present stance to take FIFA to court, is virtually agreeing that we are prepared to have all of our National teams shut down, and banned from participating in all competitive and friendly International Tournaments and matches, inclusive of the upcoming World Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup.”
He added, “This would also mean a massive loss of revenue from several quarters, inclusive of the same FIFA, as well as sponsorship, and support from the private and public sector, which we cannot swallow at this time, especially with the massive debt that the Normalization Committee is presently trying to pay off of over 100 million TT. The present direction would just add fuel to the fire and sink us further.”
He continued, “Additionally, with the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers and CONCACAF Gold Cup drawing near, there are dozens of players in their late 20s/ early 30s, who were looking forward to what may be their possible final chance to represent their country at such a level, as well as several young players in that squad now looking to establish their professional and international careers. Additionally, this could also cause the suspension of our National Youth Teams from International matches and Tournaments, hence affecting hundreds of other young players.”
Football's world governing body FIFA and the TTFA have clashed over the removal of the TTFA executive- Wallace and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susa Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip from office after just three months, and replaced them with a normalization committee which comprises chairman Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano.
Wallace and his team took their concern to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne Switzerland before later going to the High Court in Port-of-Spain, citing lack of support at the CAS. And two weeks ago they celebrated an early-round victory when Justice Carol Gobin ruled in their favour to have the High Court as the jurisdiction to settle the dispute, although the FIFA Statutes state that Member Associations were not to take the federation to their local court, or else face sanctions.
FIFA in an almost immediate response said the country (TT) will face sanction.
Griffith made it clear we must not be dream-killers for the young people in our country, saying “Nobody wins if we go down the road via the local court, especially for our country, for our football development, and for the dreams of many, not just players, but the hundreds of thousands of supporters who would lose the opportunity to dream of one day seeing a repeat of what we achieved in 2006.”
He said now is the time for us to make a decision to find a way to rectify this situation via dialogue, compromise and mutual respect between all relevant parties because the present agenda to fight a war with the FIFA in a local court, may not be the best way as everyone will lose.”
Griffith release triggered an immediate response from Keith Look Loy, the driving force behind the formation of the United TTFA, who in an effort to clear the air, said the truth is that his team has written to the FIFA about six times, from the time the normalization committee was decided up to the ruling of Justice Gobin and noted that Griffith idea is not a new one.
He explained that in spite of all their attempts at mediation, the FIFA has consistently refused to respond to them. “We are not the bad guys here. We went the CAS route and FIFA refused to pay its share of the CAS fee. We came to Trinidad and they say they will not recognize the court, they lost the case. Now they're saying they're going to a second court, though they say they will never recognize a T&T court. We have been attempting to get mediation since March, we are not the bad guys here, we are playing by the rules.”
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Infantino praised the work of the TTFA while DJW was running the show. During that time, he did not suggest in any way that the TTFAs "fiscal house" was a concern to FIFA.
I really think that the implementation of the NC is to cover up DJWs tracks and protect Infantino. If some evidence turns up about Infantino having knowledge of DJWs shady dealings, Infantino will be seen as just another corrupt FIFA president.
I also think Wallace knows something. I dont think he will go into a fight riding on hope and reason. The threat of a suspension is real (which will have huge negative repercussions for football in TT), despite that he refuses to follow orders and back down. .
It's about to get interesting.
The cover up is definitely part of it, but the sabotaging of our football? You can thief and still do well with the team, keep the best coaches and not sabotage ...
This is beyond infantino, he just got another free pass.. it’s more than just this, it’s ensuring TT is not a powerful team or association
mister you not tired of taking nonsense? who scared of trinidad and tobago? IMO there are teams in the caribbean who fifa should be even more wary of, teams like jamaica haiti, curacau, even cuba. trinidad and tobago is full of inconsistent players who go out there and embarrass their country off and on with lackluster performances. we have players who can't even string five passes together yet you're insinuating that fifa is scared of those jokers? things for the funny papers mate.
it's delusional thinking such as this that makes TT an under performing team particularly when these young lads buy into this rhetoric, believing that they have accomplished their goal when they haven't even scratched the surface in terms of accomplishments, which brings me to kenwin jones who after three seasons in the premier league performances dropped drastically and played like he had won everything under the sun, and with an attitude of someone who was in the twilight years of his career that has nothing to prove.
in order for people to understand what is taking place with our football the truth must be exposed, and the reality of our situation made clear to the world. the real reason why infantino is on a witch hunt in regards to the united TTFA is because they need to control CFU and concacaf by extension, and they can't do that with federations who might be opposed to them.
in the beginning of the united TTFA tenure DJW was painting a picture that WW and K. lok loy was aligned to jack warner and if they were to be successful, DJW would never stand another shot at being CFU president which would make infantinos work even harder in controlling the votes in cfu and by extension concacaf.
if you told me that fifa does not want what happened to america to happen again because of the money that they lost due to the USA being kicked out of the WC then i would agree, and i would even go as far as to say that they might even consider paying lesser federations presidents to throw games which is what i believe DJW was involved in (believe, not sure), but to say that shit hound TT is somehow a football power house and a take over is only way to keep us under performing is total nonsense mate, shame on you.
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you want to know what's the most annoying part of this whole normalization committee nonsense? the fact that every one save a few people like fazeer mohammed and collin murray has bought into the idea that william wallace and the united TTFA should step aside and allow the normalization committee to assume responsibility off TT football.
another annoying fact is that no one is seeing this the fat moth$%#@#$%*# ugly creton DJW is the architect behind this whole debacle and is not being called to account. just imagine a man who felt that he somehow had a right to control football for another dynasty and could hold our football to ransom simply because he has friends in high places who' more than willing to help him in that regard.
this is really reminiscent of jack warner and sep blatter and how they mangled football in TT for the last 30 years, how did we get here again, and so fast? is controlling football the only way trinidadians know how to get rich? this is so heart wrenching that i refuse to even watch football these days, i'm so over these forked up trinidadians. fifa should just do us a favor and ban us indefinitely.
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you want to know what's the most annoying part of this whole normalization committee nonsense? the fact that every one save a few people like fazeer mohammed and collin murray has bought into the idea that william wallace and the united TTFA should step aside and allow the normalization committee to assume responsibility off TT football.
another annoying fact is that no one is seeing this the fat moth$%#@#$%*# ugly creton DJW is the architect behind this whole debacle and is not being called to account. just imagine a man who felt that he somehow had a right to control football for another dynasty and could hold our football to ransom simply because he has friends in high places who' more than willing to help him in that regard.
this is really reminiscent of jack warner and sep blatter and how they mangled football in TT for the last 30 years, how did we get here again, and so fast? is controlling football the only way trinidadians know how to get rich? this is so heart wrenching that i refuse to even watch football these days, i'm so over these forked up trinidadians. fifa should just do us a favor and ban us indefinitely.
To be precise, he didn't have friends in high places. He ingratiated himself to persons with influence and perceived influence and offered/presented himself as "thoughtful" and "can-do" and as someone who could deliver conformity within CFU.
Although there are sound reasons to question the approach taken by Randy Harris (Barbados and CFU), the CFU reality likely would have experienced a more significant paradigm shift had "David John Willie" (yuh win with that one! :rotfl:) become CFU president.
DJW sold some T&T stakeholders on the benefits of his ingratiating conduct (conduct sprinkled with enthusiastically expressed ideas and personal visions of football). Basically, he kissed the ring and pledged allegiance to the King of FIFA. In exchange, he sought the leverage and unfettered authority he hoped that bought him across the land. The M. O. is in the image of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and the like: capture lands for the Crown, win hearts, suppress minds, receive patronage and send tributes to the Crown. Not all assigned those responsibilities were up to the task.
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Gary, please!!!!
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FIFA's fiction created to distract, panic the public.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Dear Editor,
TTFA is currently locked in battle with FIFA for control of the Association. The world body refers to William Wallace and the democratically elected officers "former officers of the TTFA". Their supposed removal by FIFA under highly questionable circumstances related to TTFA Board approved corruption investigations into the mismanagement of the David John-Williams administration and the role of FIFA officials connected to the Home of Football project. This investigation and FIFA's action to block it were consistent with current Swiss criminal investigations of FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, for obstruction of investigation and justice.
To stifle the deepening investigation into its political allies in the John-Williams administration, FIFA expressly and forcefully declared that the Normalization Committee was implemented to:
A. Remove and replace those committed to oppose the behaviour of the old TTFA leadership;
B. Cease internal investigations into TTD 16 million in unaccounted expenditure in the Home of Football project from funds allocated by FIFA;
C. Punish the TTFA membership for removing FIFA leadership ally, David John-Williams, who FIFA and CONCACAF leadership unethically and openly campaigned for one week prior to the 2019 TTFA elections.
Furthermore, the recent threat by FIFA to take punitive action against TTFA has no merit and is a fiction created to distract and panic the public from the failure of Normalization Committee members to fulfill the mandate provided by FIFA to properly operate ALL components that make up a football association; including but not limited to:
1. Pay its office staff and coaches
2. Communicate with TTFA members
3. Communicate with the Trinidad and Tobago public about its so-called reformation plans.
It is for the above reasons United TTFA believe the process and rationale used for implementing a Normalization Committee in Trinidad and Tobago is not only illegitimate but may also very well follow the same pattern of criminality in which Switzerland authorities are currently investigating FIFA President, Gianni Infantino_.
The question must be asked: If FIFA claims to be in charge of TTFA via its so called Normalization Committee, and that the elected officers have been removed, is it then that FIFA will ban itself?
Keith Look Loy
President of the T&T Super League
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Gary, please!!!!
Agree!!!
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‘Total disrespect!’ Coaches locked out of stadium, while trying to deliver letters to Hadad
https://wired868.com/2020/08/25/total-disrespect-coaches-locked-out-of-stadium-while-trying-to-deliver-letters-to-hadad/
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William Wallace writes FIFA.
T&T Guardian Reports.
While their case in the T&T High Court hurtles toward trial, the United TTFA faction of administrators has penned an open letter hoping to draw FIFA to resolution discussions.
In the letter, former TTFA Predident William Wallace underscores the group's unwillingness to accept and acknowledge FIFA's Normalisation Committee calling the measure "draconian".
Guardian Media Sports now publishes this letter in its entirety.
Gianni Infantino President
FIFA
Zurich Switzerland
By email
26th August 2020
Dear Mr. Infantino,
RE: Failure of Normalisation in Trinidad and Tobago
My Vice Presidents and I were elected to lead the TTFA in November 2019. For years before that FIFA had stood-by and watched as mismanagement and cronyism caused havoc for Football in Trinidad and Tobago, provoking notable public failures, including the botched Home of Football project in Balmain, Couva.
We were elected to bring transparency and financial probity. In this vein we approached FIFA early in my tenure, and opened the books for scrutiny in a way not done before when the joint FIFA-CONCACAF mission visited in early 2020.
Normalisation is a draconian and unfair act which seeks to undermine the independence of the TTFA and ride roughshod over the will of the electorate who voted for the United TTFA slate in November 2019. Added to this, the fact is, that in all the countries that were normalized, in all instances, it is clear that the incumbent executive was in breach of FIFA statues or acted in manner that justified FIFA’s intervention. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago the two reasons given by FIFA for their intervention clearly had nothing to do with the new executive.
That being said, together with my executive, I remain willing and ready to work with FIFA to resolve the outstanding issues in the interest of Football in Trinidad and Tobago. Normalisation should not have been an option in this instance, but rather, to allow the newly elected executive to work hand in hand with FIFA for and in the best interest of the TTFA.
By refusing to work together with us, and by repeatedly refusing to engage in mediation as we have called not less than six times for FIFA to do, you run the risk of irreparably damaging football in Trinidad and Tobago.
FIFA cannot continue to ignore our calls to mediate an agreement between the TTFA and FIFA and maintain any moral authority. FIFA must recognize and work with the duly elected Executive of the TTFA. Likewise, TTFA must recognize, and does, the need for financial assistance and guidance from FIFA in resolving TTFA’s current financial malaise.
If you will not talk and if no agreement is reached, the TTFA is left with no choice but to continue on the path FIFA has forced us down through the courts.
TTFA judgment day is September 16
FIFA has given the TTFA until September 16 to withdraw its matter from the Trinidad and Tobago High Court or risk being suspended from global football. This was revealed in a letter the world governing body sent to chairman of the Normalisation Committee dated August 26.
In the letter signed by FIFA Secretary General Fatima Samoura, FIFA insisted that the TTFA deals with the matter through the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The letter stated, "...we deem that a failure to comply with this directive would result in the commencement of suspension proceedings..."
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“[…] Normalisation is a draconian and unfair act which seeks to undermine the independence of the TTFA and ride roughshod over the will of the electorate who voted for the United TTFA slate in November 2019.
“[…] By refusing to work together with us, and by repeatedly refusing to engage in mediation as we have called not less than six times for Fifa to do, you run the risk of irreparably damaging football in Trinidad and Tobago…”
The following is an email from Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace to Fifa president Gianni Infantino on 26 August 2020:
Dear Mr Infantino,
Re: Failure of Normalisation in Trinidad and Tobago
My vice presidents and I were elected to lead the TTFA in November 2019. For years before that Fifa had stood-by and watched as mismanagement and cronyism caused havoc for Football in Trinidad and Tobago, provoking notable public failures—including the botched Home of Football project in Balmain, Couva.
We were elected to bring transparency and financial probity. In this vein we approached Fifa early in my tenure, and opened the books for scrutiny in a way not done before when the joint Fifa-Concacaf mission visited in early 2020.
Normalisation is a draconian and unfair act which seeks to undermine the independence of the TTFA and ride roughshod over the will of the electorate who voted for the United TTFA slate in November 2019.
Added to this, the fact is, that in all the countries that were normalised, in all instances, it is clear that the incumbent executive was in breach of Fifa statues or acted in manner that justified Fifa’s intervention.
In the case of Trinidad and Tobago the two reasons given by Fifa for their intervention clearly had nothing to do with the new executive. That being said, together with my executive, I remain willing and ready to work with Fifa to resolve the outstanding issues in the interest of Football in Trinidad and Tobago.
Normalisation should not have been an option in this instance, but rather, to allow the newly elected executive to work hand in hand with Fifa for and in the best interest of the TTFA.
By refusing to work together with us, and by repeatedly refusing to engage in mediation as we have called not less than six times for Fifa to do, you run the risk of irreparably damaging football in Trinidad and Tobago.
Fifa cannot continue to ignore our calls to mediate an agreement between the TTFA and Fifa and maintain any moral authority. Fifa must recognise and work with the duly elected executive of the TTFA.
Likewise, TTFA must recognise, and does, the need for financial assistance and guidance from Fifa in resolving TTFA’s current financial malaise.
If you will not talk and if no agreement is reached, the TTFA is left with no choice but to continue on the path Fifa has forced us down through the courts.
United TTFA gets September 16 deadline before FIFA ban.
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).
The world governing body of football, FIFA, has issued a final warning to the ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) executive to obey its statutes. FIFA said failure to comply "would result in the commencement of suspension proceedings via the relevant FIFA bodies."
On March 17, FIFA removed TTFA president William Wallace and his executive, who were elected in November 2019, instead appointing a normalisation committee led by businessman Robert Hadad to run TTFA's affairs.
Wallace and his executive appealed their removal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland. The team later indicated it did not believe CAS would give it a “fair hearing." Instead – on May 18 – they appealed to the local High Court.
Since then, the two bodies have been at loggerheads over which playing field their legal battle should kick off on. FIFA insists the matter can only and "must" be heard at CAS.
The most recent development was on August 12, when Justice Carol Gobin denied FIFA’s request to strike out the claim because its rules prevent member associations from starting proceedings against it in the local courts. FIFA has since appealed.
But in a letter to Hadad on Wednesday, FIFA reiterated the matter should be heard at CAS, adding that it is "very concerned regarding the decision of the claim and the argument used to dismiss FIFA's application.
"In this context, we draw your attention to article 58 of the FIFA statutes which expressly contains the prohibition of recourse to ordinary courts of law unless specifically provided for.
"FIFA takes such a principle with utmost seriousness and therefore considers that it is the responsibility of its member associations to ensure that this principle is implemented."
It said the ousted executive has until September 16 to withdraw its claim from the local High Court.
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Let them choose another country to sell out
Next time TT steps on that field it will be on our own terms and with a team that will beat all teams in concacaf
Or under another world football admin with Africa would be even better
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‘The learned judge erred…’ Why Fifa is unhappy with Justice Gobin’s ruling.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
On 13 August 2020, Madame Justice Carol Gobin ruled comprehensively against Fifa in the Port of Spain High Court, as she dismissed six from the seven applications put forward by the Zurich-based global sporting behemoth against Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip.
Justice Gobin did not accept Fifa’s claim that it was not served properly by the TTFA’s legal team in its action against the normalisation committee on 18 May, or that Wallace did not have the authority to represent the local football body, the TTFA could not challenge Fifa in an ordinary court and was bound by an arbitration provision in its constitution.
Fifa, headed by president Gianni Infantino, is contesting each count in the Court of Appeal. The global body is represented in this action by local attorneys: Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie while the TTFA officials are represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul.
Here are the main points that are on the table at the Court of Appeal:
Did TTFA properly serve Fifa in its application against the normalisation committee on 18 May?
Fifa leaned on the testimony of its in-house attorney Miguel Lietard who pointed out that: ‘under Swiss law, international service of process may only be performed […] by Swiss government officials, […] any other kind of service by a foreign entity, including service by email, is unlawful’.
Justice Gobin was unconvinced.
“[…] The expert evidence contained in Mr Lietard’s affidavit is in any case inadmissible hearsay opinion evidence and I consider it to be insufficient to establish what the law is on service of process in Switzerland.
“The opinion is attributed to an attorney within Fifa’s litigation department who failed to file an affidavit. In the circumstances, I find no irregularity in the manner in which service was effected…”
Fifa asserted that, among other things, Justice Gobin paid insufficient regard ‘for the provisions of foreign law’.
“The learned judge erred in law by concluding that there was no irregularity in the manner in which service was effected and/or no reasonable judge, properly directed as to the facts, could have come to that conclusion.”
Was Wallace duly authorised to take legal action as TTFA president?
Fifa contended that Wallace did not prove that the TTFA Board—which it sought to dismiss through the implementation of a normalisation committee on 13 March—had supported his decision to pursue legal action against Fifa.
“[…] They have failed to provide this Court with any evidence as to how that decision was made so as to enable the Court to confirm that the decision to commence these proceedings was made by the body that, under the TTFA Constitution, was the only body who had the authority to make such a decision…”
Justice Gobin pointed to Article 39 of the TTFA Constitution which stated that Wallace, as president, was the local football body’s ‘legal officer’. But, in any case, she asserted that the TTFA’s internal decision making process was not Fifa’s business.
“[…] The claim was signed and issued by the President who under Rule 39 is described as ‘the legal person’. Fifa has no locus to challenge the authority of persons within the TTFA organisational structure to bring an action, especially when it refuses to submit to the jurisdiction of the court.
“It can place no onus on TTFA to disclose its internal processes by asking a question in the grounds of its application. It cannot put the TTFA to proof of authority to bring an action to restore its duly elected Board of Directors. That is a matter for TTFA and its membership within this jurisdiction…”
Fifa disagreed.
“[…] The learned judge erred in law by concluding that [Fifa] had no locus to challenge the authority of the person who made the decision to commence these proceedings on behalf of the [TTFA]…”
Is the TTFA able to contest Fifa in an ordinary court?
Fifa pointed to its statutes, which insist that all disputes must be determined by CAS.
“[…] Not only does the TTFA’s own constitutional arrangements, which delimits the powers that the TTFA as an entity has, not empower the TTFA to commence proceedings before the courts of Trinidad and Tobago to challenge a final and binding decision of Fifa, but rather it expressly prohibits the taking of such action and mandates that a different form of dispute resolution be used…”
But Justice Gobin declared that an entity formed by an act of Parliament cannot simply ‘oust the jurisdiction of the courts by its rules’.
“[…] Had Parliament intended to enact Fifa Statutes so as to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and to effectively deprive the TTFA of access to the courts of this country it would have had to do so expressly in clear and unambiguous terms.
“[…] Further, the adoption of rules which seek to oust the jurisdiction of the courts breach a well-established policy of the law, which renders such rules void…”
Fifa disagreed with Justice Gobin’s interpretation.
“[…] The learned judge erred in law by failing to interpret Article 67 of the [TTFA’s] constitution as precluding [the TTFA officials] from commencing these proceedings before the ordinary courts of Trinidad and Tobago.
“The learned judge erred in law by concluding that it was outwith the jurisdiction of the [officials] to agree to submit to foreign law…”
Is CAS the correct forum for this disagreement?
Fifa noted that its statutes as well as the TTFA Constitution stipulate that CAS is the only available forum for legal resource. Hamel-Smith suggested that Wallace’s claim of ‘institutional bias’ was ‘flimsy’ and should be dismissed.
“[…] Given the varying legal systems in which Fifa members are based, it is more appropriate that issues that arise between Fifa and its members are determined by a singular body so as to ensure that all such issues are determined using the same, consistent legal bases and principles.
“To do otherwise would present a serious risk of inconsistent decisions and result in a lack of certainty, clarity and equality as between members…”
Justice Gobin noted that Fifa claimed that Wallace had no authority to challenge the global body before the court. If so, why was Fifa anxious to face the local officials at CAS?
“[…] The arbitration process cannot be triggered if there is a dispute as to the capacity of one of the parties to invoke the process and to bind TTFA to any outcome…”
Regardless, she disagreed that CAS was the best venue for the dispute.
“[…] This case goes well beyond TTFA’s alleged governance issues and the justifiability of Fifa’s purported action in appointing the Normalisation Committee. This is about the legitimacy of powers exercised under Article 8(2) of the Fifa Statutes and its consistency with a law passed by legislators in this country.
“This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sports…”
Fifa does not accept her conclusion.
“The learned judge erred in law by failing to have any or any sufficient regard to: the provisions of the [TTFA’s] own constitution; the provisions of the Fifa Statutes; the advantages of having issues between Fifa and its various member associations determined by a single entity such as the CAS, including the avoidance or minimisation of inconsistency and inequality of treatment…”
It is now the turn of the Court of Appeal to have its say.
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“Fifa has refused to engage in any discussions, forcing the TTFA as a last resort to turn to the courts. Not since 1962 have the people of Trinidad and Tobago allowed themselves to be forcibly subjugated in the manner that Fifa now seeks to do…”
The following is a press statement by Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace on the conduct of governing football body, Fifa, during the legal tussle between the two parties:
The TTFA notes that Fifa has appealed the ruling of the Honourable Madame Justice Gobin, but notes with some concern that Fifa has described this appeal as a mere ‘formal step’ and that FIFA has again threatened ‘potential further action’ against the TTFA.
This comes on the heels of their previous statement that: ‘Fifa does not, and will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in Trinidad and Tobago…’.
These statements suggest the contempt with which Fifa holds our courts, our people and our nation.
Fifa has wrongly sought to imply that the TTFA leadership have insisted in bringing the claim to the Trinidad and Tobago courts, when it was Fifa who refused to do all that was necessary to facilitate the CAS process, as the Honourable Madame Justice Gobin observed in her ruling:
‘In this case, not only has FIFA unequivocally refused to comply with the CAS 64(2) rule, thumbing its nose at its obligations to pay under the agreement, it further paralysed the arbitral process by obtaining an extension of time to answer the case until after TTFA paid its (Fifa’s) costs… [Fifa] rendered the arbitration inoperable.’
Contrary to Fifa’s statements, the TTFA has also tried not less than six times to formally engage FIFA in talks formal and/or informal, for the two parties to come together to resolve the issues in the interest of football in Trinidad and Tobago.
The latest effort came immediately after The Honourable Madame Justice Gobin’s ruling. Fifa has refused to engage in any discussions, forcing the TTFA as a last resort to turn to the courts.
Not since 1962 have the people of Trinidad and Tobago allowed themselves to be forcibly subjugated in the manner that Fifa now seeks to do. In the words of Justice Gobin, Fifa now threatens to ‘take its ball and go home’.
But by doing so however, Fifa would be accepting and confirming that the normalisation committee it claims to have appointed lacks not only moral legitimacy, but legal legitimacy too.
TTFA now looks to the hearing of the matter in the local Court of Appeal.
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Minister Cudjoe: The future of athletes at stake.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
It was a show of total support for the future of T&T football yesterday at a Zoom meeting called by Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe, as the sport's entire membership, with the exception of United T&T Football Association (TTFA) members William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Philip, said they were not in support of the country being sanctioned by FIFA, the sport's governing body.
Cudjoe said in spite of repeated calls to Wallace's phone on Thursday to get his involvement, they received no response which was unfortunate. Wallace has been at the forefront of a battle with FIFA, to overturn a decision to appoint a Normalisation Committee to manage local football, back in March 27.
But after Justice Carol Gobin gave the ousted members a first-round victory on August 13 by ruling that the High Court in T&T will be the jurisdiction to settle the dispute, FIFA's secretary general Fatma Samoura, delivered a stern letter on Wednesday, warning the United TTFA if it did not comply with the organisation's Statutes, the country faced severe sanctions that could see all its national teams out of all FIFA-sanctioned tournaments, such as World Cup qualifiers, Club Championships, CONCACAF tournaments, etc.
Cudjoe reminded the stakeholders that there were far-reaching implications to come from a FIFA ban, that was more important than the cause being fought by the quartet who was removed from office on March 17 after claiming victory in the TTFA elections in November, last year.
The minister said the future of the athletes was at stake, noting that we cannot afford to shatter the dreams of many young men and women who may be carving out a life in the sport, also reminding the stakeholders that the real power lies in the hands of the general membership.
“This is more than proving a point, but rather what it would mean for the young people who are dependent on the sport. I was surprised that everyone here was not in support of Wallace and his team, but rather the normalisation committee, so now they are going to rally their troops,” said Minister Cudjoe.
It is understood that a petition is being circulated with an aim of getting signatures of the membership to stop the court battle of the Wallace team. The petition, Guardian Media Sports learnt is also set to receive the signature of the Women's Football League (WoLF), whose president Joseph-Warrick, is a vice president.
Cudjoe also revealed that should the country get banned by FIFA, the government would not put out as much of tax-payers money to fund it, as she made a stark difference to the country's pursuit of World Cup glory to anything else.
She also said it would be unfair for tax-payers funds to be put towards a football entity that is burdened by debt, and refuses FIFA financial help through the normalisation committee.
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TTFA - Oh the drama!
By Colin Murray (Guardian).
Turning my attention to the ongoing saga between the United TTFA (T&T Football Association) and FIFA, I must admit I am caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Now, don’t for one moment think I don’t support the action taken by the United TTFA. I have always written that what FIFA did was high-handed and a total injustice to the renowned democratic society of T&T. The proper thing to do was to try and work with the TTFA executive and get them out of the hole that they were put into by former executives who should have no place in football in this country now and in the future.
Madam Justice Carol Gobin’s judgement in the High Court was profound. She did not accept many of FIFA’s claims inter alia the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was the only jurisdiction to hear the case. The TTFA is enacted by an Act of Parliament and as such, T&T’s laws do in fact have merit. Based on the fact that FIFA lost its first legal hurdle against the United TTFA, the body has gone into panic mode.
FIFA will no longer have it’s way and cannot bully their way around this and since they may lose, the reality has hit home that T&T may be banned from all international football. If we are indeed banned, it will undoubtedly stifle the growth of many young footballers in the country and no right thinking patriot will wish that on our youths and some of our senior footballers, some of whom may have one final opportunity to qualify for the Gold and World Cups.
So, what can we do? I note the Commissioner of Police (CoP) is calling for mediation and while I am in complete agreement with him, when it comes to the almighty FIFA, there is no negotiation as it must be their way. Can the CoP get FIFA to change their minds and sit with a team of individuals in this country and plot an amicable way forward?
The United TTFA has called for dialogue on at least six occasions and have not had a response from FIFA. I understand the clubs are seeking a resolution to FIFA to not recognise the United TTFA. If that occurs, who are we to recognise? The normalisation committee that has and continues to do nothing?
I am all for trying to get FIFA to sit around a table but that’s just not their style. They are like a bunch of rogue politicians who cannot deal with some noisy, dissenting citizens and rather than try to understand the problem and explore ways to solve it, they take the easy way out and threaten to imprison them. How archaic, misguided and undemocratic. That being said, I suppose there is someone smiling through this all. Your guess as to who that person may be is as good as mine.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.
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I really feel I done with this country
How shamfa reach in this now? She wanted no part all along.
One man smiling in truth. :cursing:
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Dear Editor: Wallace is causing Fifa ‘good trouble’; we should be proud.
Wired868.com.
“In little Trinidad and Tobago, with a bankrupt association, Mr Wallace and his team rightly challenged the motives of the Fifa, as well as the legality—to impose their own lieutenants who would bend to their will, while its own president makes his predecessor look like a church acolyte…”
In the following letter to the editor, Brian Ghent of Haleland Park, Maraval explains why he supports Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) officials in their legal struggle with Fifa:
‘Good Trouble’. Yes, the well respected late US Congressman John Lewis inspired many by encouraging all to stand up and do something when you see something is wrong.
This is what in effect Mr William Wallace and his team has done in challenging the legality, and more so the ‘rightness’ of Fifa’s decision to kick them out and impose a normalisation committee.
Justice Carol Gobin’s judgement has articulated clearly what many an association has wanted to say for years, but have been silent because of their own inner collaborative corruption which members have benefitted from, or the mortal fear of being expelled from Fifa. (The latter being the one most referred to in T&T by football aficionados.)
In little Trinidad and Tobago, with a bankrupt association, Mr Wallace and his team rightly challenged the motives of the Fifa, as well as the legality—to impose their own lieutenants who would bend to their will, while its own president makes his predecessor look like a church acolyte. There are serious allegations of corruption and calls for his own suspension being reported internationally, but with only casual reference in the local media.
Every T&T citizen should be proud of the stance taken by Mr Wallace’s team. Every T&T citizen should be proud that Justice Gobin let these bunch of international scoundrels know that the laws of the country are supreme and that every citizen, person or incorporate body, has the right to seek redress in their own country.
Every citizen should follow Mr Wallace’s action and seek ‘Good Trouble’.
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Minister Cudjoe calls on TTFA membership to act.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Sport and Community Development Minister Shamfa Cudjoe in an emergency virtual meeting of all major stakeholders of football on Thursday clearly articulated the Government’s expressed concern on implications of the debacle between the T&T ousted executive of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA, the governing body for the sport.
Thirty-nine persons representing various clubs and interest groups attended the meeting which represented a wide spectrum of stakeholders and membership of the TTFA.
The invitation for the meeting was also extended to all members of the former TTFA executive including president William Wallace, however, neither he nor the other executive members which included vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip attended as was reported by Guardian Media Sports, yesterday.
Following the decision taken and subsequent communication by FIFA in a letter on Wednesday to Robert Hadad, chairman of the Normalisation Committee of the TTFA, the issue of the future development of football and the loss of return on years of investment in the sport is under severe threat.
In its letter, FIFA clearly outlined its position on the claim between TTFA and FIFA at the T&T High Courts and drew attention to Article 59 of the FIFA Statute, which expressly contains the prohibition of recourse to ordinary courts unless specifically provided for. In the letter, FIFA underlined that the failure to meet these obligations may, according to Article 14, paragraph 4, of the FIFA Statutes, “lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA Statutes, including a possible suspension.”
Such sanctions can and will have a devastating impact on football in T&T.
At the meeting, chairman of the Sport Company of T&T, Douglas Camacho shared his interpretation of the implications of a decision of suspension by FIFA, the most critical of which would be on local athletes.
Firstly, a decision to suspend T&T’s membership will mean youth national teams to senior national teams cannot participate in any international football competition including friendlies.
Players would not have the opportunity to compete in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers forcing some players into retirement and the marketability of players will be affected with youth national players not being afforded the scouting opportunities at these qualifying matches.
According to Comacho, youth teams will not be able to travel to compete in sanctioned club tournaments outside of T&T, example the Dallas Cup. Scholarship opportunities will also be impacted as players who play at the CONCACAF Under-17 to U-20 tournaments are positioned to be seen by North American college scouts.
There will be a loss of investment from the private sector, resulting in TTFA's continued indebtedness.
Local clubs will not be allowed to compete in the CONCACAF Champions League, no opportunity for referee appointments, match commissioner appointments at any international tournament and T&T will not have access to development programmes from FIFA, CONCACAF, Caribbean Football Union (CFU) or any confederation or Member Association which will subsequently affect its FIFA rankings.
When the floor was opened to the members, those who spoke shared their concerns about the situation, indicating that the actions taken by the four individuals of the United TTFA were without the support of the membership and that they were not approached for their position before these legal proceedings began.
They expressed that this situation had to be looked at from the athlete’s position and it was their duty to support the FIFA Normalisation Committee and the sustained development of the sports sector.
The Sports Minister called on the members to “take action and let good sense prevail in the matter.” She reminded them “about the work and investment that the Government has and continues to make in football and the campaign for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the opportunities that will be lost for economic expansion through sports tourism and the loss in the potential, that sport and in particular football, has for addressing the ills in many communities”.
According to Minister Cudjoe, the situation that the TTFA now finds itself, with the appointment of the Normalisation Committee, is as a result of years of poor management in football administration, and the continued indebtedness that the association is now in, and that what was now required is vision, strategy, financial prudence, sound management and structure.
This is the purpose of the Normalisation Committee and FIFA's suspension and sanctions will push T&T’s position back decades to the detriment of all and especially the young ones.
Cudjoe said that it will be “ludicrous for the football fraternity to expect the government and hard-working taxpayers to bail out TTFA after years of mal management or for the private sector to continue to make an investment when there is no clear direction or opportunities for growth and prosperity.” She, therefore, called on the right-thinking stakeholders at the meeting “to step up; your action or inaction can shatter the dreams of our athletes and our youth.”
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Footballers tell Wallace: Listen to TTFA members.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).
If the majority of the TT Football Association’s (TTFA) 49-member delegation disagrees with the stance taken by its ousted president William Wallace and his executive to have the legal matter against FIFA heard at the High Court, they should withdraw the claim for the greater benefit of TT football.
This was the sentiment shared by several senior and aspiring national footballers who have called on Wallace's team to cease their legal battle against the sport’s global governing body, as the possibility of suspension for the local governing body looms.
Belgium-based national defender Sheldon Bateau, Under-23 player Jacques Poon-Lewis and two other locally-based players believe Wallace's United TTFA should “do the right thing” and approach its membership and hear their views on this crucial matter.
According to the quartet, the extension of this legal battle – which poses repercussions to the future of TT football – should not be decided by the actions of Wallace and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip only.
In a phone interview on Friday, Bateau said, “The membership makes up the TTFA, their opinions matter and I believe those are the people you should listen to. Their opinions play an important role. If the votes are against them, I believe they should listen to the majority.
“It’s a big risk they’re taking. I believe in taking risks but when so much is at stake, it doesn’t make sense. They believe they’ve been done an injustice so I somewhat understand from their point of view also, but the risk is too great.”
FIFA gave Wallace's team until September 16 to withdraw the claim from the local court, insisting the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the only recognised body to hear matters involving FIFA and its members.
A FIFA ban could end TT's chances of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, with qualification set to kick off soon.
When asked on the possibility of TT being unable to participate in World Cup qualifiers, Bateau said he would be irate if this becomes a reality.
“It’s difficult to say the type of feeling I would get if we’re not allowed to compete at the qualifiers (October). I’d be disappointed and maybe a bit angry. I can speak for all the other guys from my generation. The goal is to reach a senior World Cup and we have been working over the years with this in mind. Now, we more or less have a better chance, I would like for everything to work out in a positive way so we could focus on the games ahead,” he added.
YOUNG PLAYERS 'FRIGHTENED'
Poon-Lewis, 20, has also been following the legal see-saw battle and is a bit fearful of his football future. He hopes good sense can prevail, especially with the youth in mind.
“It can definitely jeopardise my future as a young footballer. I think it can be disastrous for any footballer who is aspiring to play for a national team at this point in time. If CAS is the official court for these matters, I think they should just drop the matter and stop being so selfish,” he said.
A national player who plies is trade in the TT Pro League, but who requested anonymity, said the uncertainty has local players frightened and concerned on their sporting future.
He said, “I think for local football, it's chaos. It not helping in no way to the World Cup schedule. We have (World Cup qualifying) football to play in October and they still fighting one another. We not sure how the court case is going to swing. It real tough being a footballer, knowing playing for the national team is your biggest dream and it does not lie in the hands of players but in a court room.”
The footballer said a FIFA ban would end the dreams of countless footballers whose goals are to play abroad. The uncertainty of what lies ahead as a sportsman is of his, and several others, greatest concern.
The fact that his World Cup dreams hangs in the balance of a courtroom decision, according to him, is “one of the worst things to happen to local football.”
“Guys frightened, panicking. We don't know what to expect in the court case. Some players don't have any government work so that's their bread and butter. That is 30 something to 40 families not knowing where their next meal is coming from. The club level we have, they (scouts) don't really rate it. Only time a player recognised is playing for national team and playing against big nations, you get to shine,” he stated.
The athlete said players are also being owed match fees for matches played about a year ago. He said players are grumbling as FIFA recently sent money to the normalisation committee but it was used to pay staff instead.
SPORTS MINISTER WEIGHS IN
Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe hosted an emergency virtual meeting of major stakeholders of football on Thursday urging members to "take action and let good sense prevail."
According to a Ministry of Sport press release on Friday, the meeting attracted 39 people representing various clubs and interests groups. The ministry said all members of the TTFA executive were invited, including Wallace, Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip.
None of the TTFA executive members attended. However, In a radio interview, Wallace said he never received any invitation to the meeting.
The ministry said TTFA members shared their concerns and said the legal challenge of FIFA was undertaken without the support of the membership.
"They expressed that this situation had to be looked at from the athlete’s position and it was their duty to support the FIFA normalisation committee and the sustained development of the sport sector," the ministry said.
Cudjoe called on the right-thinking stakeholders at the meeting “to step up; your action or inaction can shatter the dreams of our athletes and our youth.”
Cudjoe made it clear the Government would not bail out the TTFA financially.
Sport Company chairman Douglas Camacho also outlined implications of a FIFA suspension, the most critical of which affect TT’s youths.
According to him, a decision to suspend TT’s membership means: youth and senior national teams would be unable to participate in any international football competition including friendlies; players would not have the opportunity to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, forcing some players into retirement; the marketability of players would be affected with youth national players not being afforded the scouting opportunities at these qualifying matches; youth teams would not be able to travel to compete in sanctioned club tournaments outside of TT; scholarship opportunities would be affected as players who play at the CONCACAF Under-17/Under-20 tournaments are positioned to have top college recruiters watching them; loss of investment from the private sector ; TTFA’s continued indebtedness.
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f**king shameful.
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Look Loy: ‘Hadad is doing absolutely nothing!’ Fifa blamed for hurting T&T’s W/Cup dreams.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
The biggest threat to the Soca Warriors’ dream of qualifying for the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup, according to Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, is not the ongoing legal tussle between the local football body and Fifa.
It is the supposedly hapless organisational skills of Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, coupled with the global body’s apparent unwillingness to fund the Men’s National Senior Team.
Yesterday, Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith criticised TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA slate for taking Fifa to court and potentially jeopardising the careers of national footballers. Griffith said the dispute between the two bodies can only be resolved through mediation.
Look Loy said he agreed only with Griffith’s conclusion.
“Griffith’s reasoning is circuitous and flawed but he arrives at the correct destination by the time he gets to his conclusion: mediation—that is the obvious and civilised way to go,” said Look Loy. “Now, the fact is that we have written six times to Fifa in this regard. The first time was immediately after they sought to impose the committee in March and the last immediately after we won in the High Court. Fifa has completely ignored us.
“The unreasonable and intransigent party here, the arrogant party, is Fifa. What they desire is complete and unconditional surrender by United TTFA. The public needs to know this, particularly those who are eager to see a decision of an independent court or our sovereign republic uphold a law of our sovereign Parliament.”
Look Loy said the United TTFA remains open to dialogue with Fifa and disagreed with the claim that Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were putting the local game at risk.
“We intend to write to Fifa yet again to seek talks,” he said. “Our intention is not to sacrifice Trinidad and Tobago football but to protect it from those who have traditionally abused and exploited it. And I invite the commissioner to also write Fifa, to propose talks as the way forward.”
At present, Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura remains insistent that the TTFA executive has been removed and Wallace is merely the ‘former’ president—a claim not recognised by either the local High Court or the TTFA’s bankers, First Citizens Bank.
And if Fifa thinks Hadad is taking care of local football business, according to Ramdhan, it has not been paying attention.
Hadad and fellow committee members Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano were implemented as replacements for the TTFA board on 27 March, with Ramdhan continuing as general secretary—a job that puts him in control of the local body’s daily operations.
However, Ramdhan was suspended last month while Hadad rarely visits the TTFA headquarters in Couva and, according to the estranged general secretary, is more likely to hold football meetings at the compound of his family-owned business, HadCo Limited, in Barataria.
And in the absence of meaningful direction or supervision, the TTFA’s office staff supposedly show up and go through the motions each day. To compound the situation, the normalisation committee has not arranged for payment to its coaches, or addressed its debt to the national players.
The Soca Warriors are scheduled to start their World Cup qualifying campaign against Guyana on 8 October and Ramdhan said Soca Warriors head coach Terry Fenwick is panicking.
“There is nothing happening at all at the TTFA and everything is simply being left unattended,” said Ramdhan. “We had the World Cup qualifying draw and up to now, Hadad hasn’t pulled his staff together to try to formulate a strategy for preparing with Covid-19 restrictions, contacting players, finding funding or anything.
“Anytime he is asked, he says his hands are tied, but there is still plenty organising that needs to be done and he just does not seem to be interested. Terry asked me if I can help and I told him I am suspended because the man says he doesn’t need a general secretary.
“That’s what led to [Fenwick] breaking his silence and speaking to the press last week.”
Look Loy pointed out that Fifa has at least US$2 million already designated for the TTFA; and, even without access to the latter’s bank account, can send the money directly to the relevant individuals—in the same way office staff was paid.
“If Fifa is as interested in Trinidad and Tobago football as it claims to be, well there is money sitting down in Zurich designated for us—including US$500,000 for Covid relief,” said Look Loy. “The same way they can find the money to pay the office staff, they can pay the coaches including the Men’s National Senior Team; although Fenwick should obviously be paid according to the conditions approved by the board and not based on his unapproved contract.”
Last week, national youth coaches Richard Hood and Angus Eve both shared their dissatisfaction with the ‘ridiculous situation’.
And, yesterday, Soca Warriors stand-outs Khaleem Hyland and Sheldon Bateau joined in, as they complained about owed match fees and a lack of communication from all sides.
Look Loy said Wallace did speak to Hyland but attributed the uncertainty caused by the normalisation committee, a lack of knowledge about the current senior team players, and Fenwick’s protectiveness of the squad for his own failure to reach out.
“It was simply not possible for Wallace (or me, and I have no official function in this regard) to communicate with players when the coach had not confirmed a squad before the one outing we had agreed against Canada,” said Look Loy. “Many of the players he wanted were unavailable and the outing was cancelled by Covid. To communicate with an unknown group—more so while the coach was shrieking that only he should communicate with players (another example of his nonsense)—would not have been sensible or possible.”
The Soca Warriors head Group F alongside Guyana, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis and Bahamas in the preliminary Concacaf World Cup qualifying phase. Only the winner will advance to a do-or-die play-off against the champions of Group A—El Salvador is the top seed—with a berth to the final Concacaf eight team group at stake.
Look Loy warned that Trinidad and Tobago’s group was not as straightforward as it seems.
“I think it is a tricky group because it appears to be an easy group but it is not,” said Look Loy. “In particular, we have a history with Guyana. The last time we played them at our home, we drew and they will be up for this game.
“[…] I don’t expect that playing Puerto Rico in Puerto Rico would be an easy match either, so it is not as straightforward as many seem to think. If we get past the group, we have a decent history against El Salvador; but I suspect it won’t be the El Salvador of past years because they have a good ranking in Concacaf right now.
“So while it is not a bad draw and one that we can look forward to, it is still one that we have to negotiate carefully.”
Another factor in the qualifying campaign, Look Loy suspects, might be Covid-19. At present, St Kitts and Nevis are the only scheduled opponent who are not reeling from the virus.
The Bahamas, a country of just over 385,000 people, has recorded 898 positives with 15 deaths. Guyana, who have 785,000 people, have 568 positives with 22 deaths and Puerto Rico, a country of 2.8 million, have just under 23,000 positive cases with 279 deaths.
Look Loy is perplexed as to why Concacaf didn’t follow the example of the Asian Football Confederation and postpone its qualifying campaign until 2021.
“I don’t know what Concacaf is seeing that I am not, because there are Covid restrictions in place all over the Caribbean right now,” he said. “How does football fit into governmental restrictions? That will be a serious issue.”
Look Loy does not anticipate that the suspension of the domestic game would have much impact on the Warriors, judging from Fenwick’s shortlist for their aborted friendly against Canada in March.
The English coach named 44 players divided equally into an ‘A’ and ‘B’ team for the friendlies. There were only six local-based names included: teenaged San Juan Jabloteh forward Justin Araujo-Wilson, versatile Defence Force defender Curtis Gonzales, electric Club Sando winger Shaqkeem Joseph and the Terminix La Horquetta Rangers trio of playmaker Keron ‘Ball Pest’ Cummings, attacker Isaiah Lee and midfielder Jamal Creighton.
Incidentally, Rangers director Richard Ferguson did not allow his players to train with the national team anyway.
“Based on Fenwick’s approach to the two Canada friendlies that didn’t come off, he doesn’t intend to use many local players, so Covid restrictions won’t be an issue,” said Look Loy. “We will rely on foreign-based players and foreign-born players, who will not have any opportunity to come together and prepare. They will have to jump straight into it and rely on their own experience to see them through.”
But Look Loy suggested that the management of the National Senior Team was also being affected by the current instability.
“I am looking on and seeing [Adrian] Romain, [Keon] Trim and [Keith Jeffrey] being described as National Senior Team assistant coaches and I’m wondering whether Fenwick has gone completely off the reservation,” said Look Loy. “Who appointed them? The technical director and director of national teams are employees, so they don’t have the authority to appoint team staff.
“[…] But that shows again the extent to which our football has descended into chaos. The normalisation committee has been in charge for five or six months and literally done nothing, so people are doing what they want.
“Fenwick is a person who needs managing, which would have been the job of the [TTFA] technical committee.”
Ramdhan credited Hadad with facilitating improvements at the Home of Football and fixing the team bus. But there were a string of more pressing issues left unattended, from insurance matters, to coordinating refereeing courses, and dealing with frustrated creditors.
Hadad, according to Ramdhan, held the general secretary partially responsible for controversial contracts agreed with Peter Miller and Avec Sport before they went to to the TTFA Board. Ramdhan has already served Hadad with a pre-action protocol letter and intends to fight his suspension in court.
“When Hadad started, he said he knew nothing about football and he would listen to advice,” said Ramdhan. “But it seems that the only people advising him are Brent Sancho and David John-Williams. He told me that he speaks to David everyday and while David might have done some foolishness, he has a lot to contribute to football.
“I said if you are willing to engage David, then why not Wallace who is the immediate past president? But he does whatever he wants.”
With the Qatar campaign set to kick off, local football stakeholders appear stuck between its besieged elected officers, a hapless normalisation committee and an uncaring governing body.
And things are likely to get worse still.
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Slapped back by Justice Gobin, FIFA's tactic is now fearmongering. Where are the people and their Nelson Mandela backbone?
All this pressure on Wallace but not a sound during the reign of King David?
Steups.
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Slapped back by Justice Gobin, FIFA's tactic is now fearmongering. Where are the people and their Nelson Mandela backbone?
All this pressure on Wallace but not a sound during the reign of King David?
Steups.
Exactly! I shame of my people but they only showing who they really were all along
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We might has well have been banned these past five years under DJW. There was no women's program. We did not compete in Olympic qualifying, we did not compete in Concacaf champions league because of licensing failures by DJW. We barely compete in youth competition.
But these jackasses braying now. Sancho and them only care about their own self interest. f**king shameful
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Slapped back by Justice Gobin, FIFA's tactic is now fearmongering. Where are the people and their Nelson Mandela backbone?
All this pressure on Wallace but not a sound during the reign of King David?
Steups.
Do you know another group of people in the world who are so quick to accept this kinda thing from anyone else?
FIFA don't even have to try too hard. Let their own people condemn their own right to govern their affairs.
Shameful is too weak a concept to describe our people's attitude towards this unjust takeover. "Self-hate! Lack of belief in one's self while believing in others!" The abuser never just "shakes out of it" later and changes his ways, yuh know! This will continue in perpetuity. And they are empowered by the chorus of voices agreeing with their corrupt ways.
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Football stakeholders to deliver petition on Monday.
By Nigel Simon (Guardian).
A petition which required the signatures of the membership with more than 50 per cent support of the 49 delegates, will be presented to the FIFA-appointed T&T Football Association (TTFA) Normalisation Committee (NC) headed by businessman Robert Hadad on Monday morning.
This was stated by Kieron Edwards, president of Eastern Football Association (EFA) as local football bodies that fall under the umbrella of the embattled T&TFA make a last-ditch attempt to get members of the William Wallace-led United T&T Football Association (TTFA) to drop its legal battle against football’s world governing body FIFA.
Hadad and the Normalisation Committee was appointed to govern the affairs of local football on March 27, after Wallace who won last November's T&TFA's election over the incumbent, David John-Williams was removed from office by FIFA on March 17, due to what FIFA said was the new executive poor planning and financial handling of the local body affairs.
Edwards told Guardian Media Sports on Saturday that, "So far we have already gathered more than half of the 49 signatures needed to make a presentation on behalf of the concerned local clubs to the normalisation Committee. We have received the backing of 30 clubs so far, as well as the support of the Central Football Association, and Eastern Counties Football Union."
Asked if there was confirmed support for the signing of the petition coming from the other zones, Edwards said, "We are awaiting replies from the Northern Football Association (NFA), Southern Football Association (SFA), Tobago Football Association (TFA) and the T&T Pro League, which has the given its full support minus Club Sando.
Concerning support coming from the Secondary Schools Football League’s (SSFL), its interim president Philip Fraser said he first has to request his membership before he can sign for or against.
Earlier this week, both Brent Sancho, chairman of the T&T Pro League and Mike Awai, a Business Development Officer at Pro League campaigners AC Port-of-Spain, said that with 51 per cent support of the membership, a request can be made to the chairman of the Normalisation Committee, Hadad to call an emergency general meeting, from which a decision can be made to seek the court’s approval to stop the action of the ousted TTFA executive members - inclusive of William Wallace and his three vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, which has put the country in a position to be sanctioned by FIFA.
Sancho said also that with 75 per cent of the support of the football membership, the United TTFA group can be stopped outrightly, as they would not be representing the wishes of the majority of the members.
Edwards said that with the signatures acquired they also intend on requesting an extraordinary meeting with the NC to have the United TTFA withdraw their matter at the courts and save T&T football from falling apart.
Only on Wednesday, a letter from FIFA’s secretary-general Fatma Samoura warned the United TTFA that if they did not comply with the FIFA Statutes, and accept the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) based in Zurich, Switzerland, as the jurisdiction for settling the dispute between the parties, then the country faces sanctions.
Samoura also gave the United TTFA executive a deadline date of September 16, to take its matter out of the T&T High Court in Port-of-Spain.
Meanwhile, CFA president Shymdeo Gosine said the three delegates who have represented the association have been instructed to support the petition.
"FIFA has rules and regulations and as a member of FIFA our association agreed to abide by those rules, and I really don't understand what they are trying to do at this point with us being on the brink of being ban.
"Those guys need to kill their ego-tripping because we will suffer a great deal in terms of our football if they don't withdraw the ban and FIFA then imposes sanctions on us," said Gosine.
He added, "Their actions to me have no real benefit as the United T&TFA does not have the resources to manage local football and they should end their battle, allow FIFA to step in and help put our football back on track," ended Gosine.
NFA president, Anthony Harford said he has taken the decision along with his executive to have the clubs of the association decide for themselves on the matter.
He stated, "The truth is as president of the NFA, I have taken the position that the clubs will have to make their own choice on whether to throw their support behind the petition or not.
"This is because their is this big perception that I am a William Wallace supporter and because of that I have not been in contact or been privy to any documentations with regards to the petition, but clubs of the NFA have informed me that they have been contacted and my response to them has been to make their own choice."
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Fifa tells ‘new’ TTFA to inform ‘former’ TTFA of deadline to drop court case, in bizarre letter.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura has asked ‘new’ Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) boss Robert Hadad—the head of its normalisation committee in the twin island republic—to tell ‘former’ TTFA president William Wallace to ignore the order of High Court Judge Carol Gobin and move its dispute with Fifa to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
And, Samoura stressed, the ‘former’ TTFA must not liaise directly with Fifa; but instead through the ‘new’ TTFA.
The missive was sent to Hadad this afternoon by the world governing body, although it was arguably the sort of exchange one might expect of two bickering form three students.
At present, Hadad has control over the TTFA office because it was essentially relinquished to him by Wallace. Otherwise, Hadad is not recognised as the head of the local football body by any legal entity in the country including the High Court. Samoura would be aware of this too, since she acknowledged Gobin’s judgment.
In effect, Fifa is asking Wallace to ignore an order by the Trinidad and Tobago High Court and, instead, face the Switzerland-based body at CAS instead. Fifa is headquartered in Zurich, CAS is based in Lausanne.
And Samoura is trying to lure Wallace into Switzerland while arguably ridiculing his standing within the TTFA, and by threatening to unleash wrath on the local game if he does not act as instructed.
“As you are aware, Fifa is extremely concerned regarding the decision of the claim and the arguments used to dismiss Fifa’s application,” stated Samoura’s dispatch. “In this context, we draw your attention to article 59 of the Fifa Statutes, which expressly contains the prohibition of recourse to ordinary courts of law unless specifically provided for.
“Fifa takes such a principle with the utmost seriousness and therefore considers that it is the responsibility of its member associations to ensure that this principle is implemented.
“We further wish to underline that the failure to meet these obligations may, according to article 14 par 4 of the Fifa Statutes, lead to sanctions as provided for in the Fifa Statutes, including a possible suspension.”
The Fifa Statutes, according to the Fifa website, was last updated in June 2019—and it does not include an ‘article 14 par 4’. However, article 13.3 reads:
“Violations of par 1 (i) may also lead to sanctions, even if the third-party influence was not the fault of the member association concerned. Each member association is responsible towards Fifa for any and all acts of the members of their bodies caused by the gross negligence or wilful misconduct of such members.”
So, Samoura intends to hold Hadad responsible for ‘any and all acts of the members of their bodies’. The problem with applying that to Wallace is, if Fifa does not recognise him as TTFA president, then how does it apply to him?
Wallace resigned as Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president last month and, as such, his only link to the TTFA is as president. If Fifa does not recognise him as TTFA president, then how can the local football body be responsible for his behaviour?
Of course, the High Court does view Wallace—and not Hadad—as the legitimate head of Trinidad and Tobago football. And, earlier today, Wallace used the TTFA letterhead to email Fifa president Gianni Infantino with a request for a meeting.
Wallace’s letter, which is supposedly the seventh such overture to the world governing body, was also forwarded to the local and international media.
It appeared to prompt Samoura’s letter, which opened with: “On 13 August 2020, it has come to our attention the decision of ‘the claim between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and the Federation Internationale of Football Association (Fifa)’ at the Trinidad and Tobago High Court…”
Justice Gobin’s judgment has ‘come to Fifa’s attention’? About a week after Fifa formally appealed the decision?
Infantino and Samoura ought to have already read Gobin’s ruling, which stated that:
“[…] This case goes well beyond TTFA’s alleged governance issues and the justifiability of Fifa’s purported action in appointing the Normalisation Committee. This is about the legitimacy of powers exercised under Article 8(2) of the FIFA Statutes and its consistency with a law passed by legislators in this country.
“This is a matter which falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court of this country. This is not a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sport…”
Fifa is then asking its appointee, Hadad, to persuade Wallace to ignore a High Court ruling—and threatening action if he doesn’t—while simultaneously appealing the said decision with the local Court of Appeal.
Wallace was given a deadline of 16 September to withdraw the case, which is 48 hours prior to the 2020 Fifa Congress. The fate of the TTFA is likely to be raised at that online Fifa meeting.
“We firmly request the TTFA to ask the TTFA former leadership for an immediate withdrawal of the claim at the Trinidad and Tobago High Court by 16 September 2020, at the latest,” stated Samoura. “In view of the above, we deem that that a failure to comply with this directive would result in the commencement of suspension proceedings via the relevant Fifa bodies.
“Finally, we kindly request that you communicate the foregoing to the relevant persons and keep us closely informed on further developments regarding the matter.”
Hadad had his assistant Amiel Mohammed forward the Fifa missive to Wallace by email, rather than contact the administrator himself. But then the HadCo Limited co-CEO has consistently taken a detached approach to his management of the TTFA.
Yesterday, over a dozen technical staff members turned up at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva to deliver their letters of appointment to the normalisation committee. Instead, the unpaid coaches—who included iconic past national footballers like Angus Eve, Clayton Morris and Stern John—found themselves locked out of the stadium for over an hour.
Hadad, even as he made Fifa’s threat public, did not offer an explanation for his treatment of the national coaches or address their grievances.
Fifa and Hadad, though, are trying to pin potential sanctions against the TTFA on Wallace, while simultaneously saying that Wallace has no position within the local game whatsoever.
It is a lingering bout of cognitive dissonance by Fifa that Justice Gobin addressed in her ruling on 13 August.
“There is an inherent contradiction in the Fifa’s purported appointment of a normalisation committee, the purpose of which has been to usurp the powers and functions of the executive of the TTFA on the one hand,” stated the High Court judge, “and its insistence on holding the TTFA to the arbitration agreement on the other. The claimant properly asks the question: ‘whom does FIFA hold to that agreement?’
“In other words, if Fifa disputes the authority of Mr Wallace and others to act on behalf of TTFA, and TTFA is under the control of the normalisation committee—how does it reconcile that with its insistence that these very persons who have no authority to file these court should commence arbitration proceedings in Switzerland.
“The [CAS] arbitration process cannot be triggered if there is a dispute as to the capacity of one of the parties to invoke the process and to bind TTFA to any outcome.
“[…] By its challenge to the authority of persons to bring this action, in which proceedings were signed by the President, Mr Wallace and the board of directors named in the arbitration proceedings, the arbitration was rendered inoperable.”
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Hadad urges ‘previous administration’ to act for T&T’s benefit, a day after locking out national coaches.
Wired868.com.
“Fifa has been clear from the day of the appointment of the normalisation committee, and on several occasions since, that the committee alone has the mandate to run and manage the affairs of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.
“[…] Additionally, it makes clear the potentially devastating consequences for football in Trinidad and Tobago if members of the previous administration do not withdraw their claim in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court by 16 September 2020…”
The following is a letter from normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, which addresses a dispatch from Fifa today—but not his office staff’s decision to lock unpaid national football coaches out of the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva yesterday:
Fifa has been clear from the day of the appointment of the normalisation committee, and on several occasions since, that the committee alone has the mandate to run and manage the affairs of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.
Fifa’s letter, received today, reaffirms this position. Additionally, it makes clear the potentially devastating consequences for football in Trinidad and Tobago if members of the previous administration do not withdraw their claim in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court by 16 September 2020.
Members of the previous administration know very well that Fifa statutes require all Fifa Member Associations to manage disputes through the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And members of the previous administration also know very well the consequences for any Member which disregards that key requirement for Fifa membership.
Ultimately, our teams and their coaches and players, and of course our fans, are the most important thing for the future of football in our country.
Respectfully,
Robert Hadad
Chairperson of the normalisation committee
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Slapped back by Justice Gobin, FIFA's tactic is now fearmongering. Where are the people and their Nelson Mandela backbone?
All this pressure on Wallace but not a sound during the reign of King David?
Steups.
Do you know another group of people in the world who are so quick to accept this kinda thing from anyone else?
FIFA don't even have to try too hard. Let their own people condemn their own right to govern their affairs.
Shameful is too weak a concept to describe our people's attitude towards this unjust takeover. "Self-hate! Lack of belief in one's self while believing in others!" The abuser never just "shakes out of it" later and changes his ways, yuh know! This will continue in perpetuity. And they are empowered by the chorus of voices agreeing with their corrupt ways.
I’m happy people are finally seeing what I saw all this time with the local population and the majority of the footballing community.
They only talk about massa day done and all this other garbage but are happy to be ruled, hence the elections and continual support of a two party system that divides..
Hence the bowing to fifa and not having the belly to deal with neo colonialism and undermining.
TT is truly gone through, how can you lead a revolution when the majority of TT don’t support each other, who believe anything foreign is better... its a fight down bc they are weak and brainwashed ...
Wallace needs to stand his ground, it’s time TT football face a ban and learn to stand up for what’s right, they have it too easy, time for the struggle and reality of who controls and how to gain self control and self rule...
The players are also sell outs, if they don’t push against this tyranny
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Former T&TFA member sees petition as waste of time.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
"Don't waste your time," a former member of the William Wallace-led Board of Directors of the T&T Football Association who wished to remain anonymous said with regards to the Petition efforts by the membership of the TTFA, in its attempts to stop the United T&TFA from taking court action against the sport's governing body FIFA.
On Wednesday the members of the sport launched a campaign to signed petition to go to the court to stop former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, from pursuing legal action against FIFA appointed normalisation committee to manage the T&TFA.
The former board member pointed to reasons why the general membership, which Guardian Media Sports reported yesterday had acquired more than 51-percent of signatures needed so far, could be wasting their time.
The Board member told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that, the membership action is an unconstitutional act and it is practically impossible to take a matter out of the court unless it is done so by the people who are taking legal action themselves.
The former board member said, "It is not legally possible for the membership to get the matter removed from the court and the court knows this. Any information coming out about the case is sub judice."
The former board member pointed to the desperation of the membership and explained that the appointment of a normalisation committee meant there is no Board of Directors of the TTFA and certainly there's no TTFA, so the action of Wallace and his vice presidents Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip, was done by them as individuals, and not on behalf of the embattled football association.
"Those executive officers used their own money to go to court, they didn't use funds from the TTFA accounts. Also, the constitution gives power to the membership to remove a president but it must be done within 60 days and that has already passed, so it cannot happen. The removal of a president, in this case, requires a more than 60 per cent of the majority of members for the general secretary to convene a special meeting, but even if that is achieved it will not affect the court battle", the Board Director explained.
On Wednesday, the membership launched their campaign and with the support of Minister of Sports and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe following a meeting she had with the stakeholders of the sport on Thursday, they began soliciting signatures via the petition to try and convince the High Court that the action of the four United TTFA members (Wallace and his vice presidents Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip) which FIFA removed from office on March 17, for what it claimed was due to the new executive poor planning and financial handling of the local body affairs, does not represent the membership of the TTFA.
On August 13, High Court Judge Justice Carol Gobin ruled in favour of the United TTFA to have their challenge of FIFA decision to remove them from office to be heard in the T&T High court, as opposed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland according to the FIFA's statutes, which is spelt out as the channels for aggrieved Member Associations to settle disputes. FIFA has since filed an appeal on August 20.
On August 26, FIFA’s secretary-general Fatma Samoura wrote Robert Hadad, the chairman of the Normalisation Committee warning the United TTFA that if they did not comply with the FIFA Statutes, and accept the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) as the jurisdiction for settling the dispute between the parties, then the country faces sanctions.
Samoura also gave the United TTFA executive a deadline date of September 16, to take its matter out of the T&T High Court in Port-of-Spain.
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Former T&TFA member sees petition as waste of time.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
"Don't waste your time," a former member of the William Wallace-led Board of Directors of the T&T Football Association who wished to remain anonymous said with regards to the Petition efforts by the membership of the TTFA, in its attempts to stop the United T&TFA from taking court action against the sport's governing body FIFA.
On Wednesday the members of the sport launched a campaign to signed petition to go to the court to stop former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, from pursuing legal action against FIFA appointed normalisation committee to manage the T&TFA.
The former board member pointed to reasons why the general membership, which Guardian Media Sports reported yesterday had acquired more than 51-percent of signatures needed so far, could be wasting their time.
The Board member told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that, the membership action is an unconstitutional act and it is practically impossible to take a matter out of the court unless it is done so by the people who are taking legal action themselves.
The former board member said, "It is not legally possible for the membership to get the matter removed from the court and the court knows this. Any information coming out about the case is sub judice."
The former board member pointed to the desperation of the membership and explained that the appointment of a normalisation committee meant there is no Board of Directors of the TTFA and certainly there's no TTFA, so the action of Wallace and his vice presidents Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip, was done by them as individuals, and not on behalf of the embattled football association.
"Those executive officers used their own money to go to court, they didn't use funds from the TTFA accounts. Also, the constitution gives power to the membership to remove a president but it must be done within 60 days and that has already passed, so it cannot happen. The removal of a president, in this case, requires a more than 60 per cent of the majority of members for the general secretary to convene a special meeting, but even if that is achieved it will not affect the court battle", the Board Director explained.
On Wednesday, the membership launched their campaign and with the support of Minister of Sports and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe following a meeting she had with the stakeholders of the sport on Thursday, they began soliciting signatures via the petition to try and convince the High Court that the action of the four United TTFA members (Wallace and his vice presidents Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Phillip) which FIFA removed from office on March 17, for what it claimed was due to the new executive poor planning and financial handling of the local body affairs, does not represent the membership of the TTFA.
On August 13, High Court Judge Justice Carol Gobin ruled in favour of the United TTFA to have their challenge of FIFA decision to remove them from office to be heard in the T&T High court, as opposed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland according to the FIFA's statutes, which is spelt out as the channels for aggrieved Member Associations to settle disputes. FIFA has since filed an appeal on August 20.
On August 26, FIFA’s secretary-general Fatma Samoura wrote Robert Hadad, the chairman of the Normalisation Committee warning the United TTFA that if they did not comply with the FIFA Statutes, and accept the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) as the jurisdiction for settling the dispute between the parties, then the country faces sanctions.
Samoura also gave the United TTFA executive a deadline date of September 16, to take its matter out of the T&T High Court in Port-of-Spain.
PNM and the govt are a bunch of sell outs, so the MOS is now supporting all the the people in massas house locally now...
They want to ensure they get that bribe and hush money and have no qualms with TT football being in the gutter, as long as they eat ah food..
That ban can’t come fast enough...
You notice that fifa could have issued this warning before they lost Andy it went trial in TT.. they hoped they would have won, so now that they have lost, they are threatening Wallace bc they know CAS is no time neutral and they don’t want rebellion and resistance, they want you to bow..
This also sets up resistance from other federations which could backfire on them.. Wallace needs to stand firm
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What killing me is we was basically on a ban the last five years
What kinda football we play at any level?
What kinda development was done at any level?
Look at all these louses now.
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In my view, the meeting called by the MoS, for the purpose for which it was called was prejudicial and improper.
There have been moments in the past when the MoS should have been activist in her approach and declined to be activist. This moment required waiting until there was clarity and certainty in outcome before entering as an activist or non-neutral. Instead, the MoS decided to participate in the internal politics of the federation and to act as a rallyer of opposing voices. Having won the election, I am happy to see the MoS maintain her sports portfolio, but that meeting should have been framed differently, had a narrower purpose or timed to occur after the FIFA vote.
In addition, there's a legal concept known as "standing". There was standing to bring the matter before the courts/CAS and no need for ratification by the membership as to whether standing existed. That standing is preserved throughout the life of the matter in dispute and it is the injured party to which it is attached ... so a vote that seeks to impose withdrawal of the matter does not necessarily withdraw "United TTFA's" standing to see this matter to its natural conclusion.
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Slapped back by Justice Gobin, FIFA's tactic is now fearmongering. Where are the people and their Nelson Mandela backbone?
All this pressure on Wallace but not a sound during the reign of King David?
Steups.
Exactly! I shame of my people but they only showing who they really were all along
https://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=66646.msg994778#msg994778
Smoke that
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If FIFA cared about the staff and players' welfare, it would not have selectively decided who among staffers it would pay and who would suck salt.
Paying on schedule and providing the "Normalization Committee" with the disbursement that other federations have received would have contributed to "normalizing" and achieving a measure of normalcy, but FIFA opted not to take that path because the interim best interests of Trinidad and Tobago football are not FIFA's primary concern. Instead, the organization directorate has opted to treat the matter as a hostage crisis and to attempt to smoke out the perceived hostage takers while recognizing that there will be collaterally damaged hostages who are victims of the smoke out.
Anyone who sees that as the best available benign approach for FIFA to have taken is missing a fundamental aspect of how this dispute has escalated.
Blaming Wallace for FIFA's non-payment of the staff and a prospect of retaliatory sanction is acquiescing in faulting the hostages for being held captive.
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Downer: TTFA suspension not on FIFA congress agenda.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Osmond Downer, a vice president of the T&T Football Referees Association (TTFRA) has written to the the membership of the T&T Football in relationship to a petition to seek to have the court matter involving the former executive offices of the sports and the FIFA, the world governing body for the sport moved from the T&T high court to the the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which is Switzerland.
Guardian Media Sports has been reporting since Friday that the membership intention is to stop FIFA from taking action against the TTFA if former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, refuse to comply with FIFA's directive issued on Wednesday for them to withdraw their legal matter from the T&T High Court in Port-of-Spain against FIFA by September 16. The petition is also to remove the officers.
FIFA removed the TTFA executive on March 17 and appointed a Normalisation committee to manage the TTFA on March 27. The dismissed officers who were elected on November 24, 2019 at the TTFA annual general meeting (AGM) decided to challenged FIFA's decision to remove them from office. However, during a meeting on Thursday between stakeholders of the sport and Shamfa Cudjoe, the Minister of Sports and Community Development, the Minister called on the members to take action and let good sense prevail in the matter.
Here's Downer, one of the framers of the TTFA Constitution letter to the membership on Monday:
Dear Colleagues in Football,
Please allow me to comment on certain statements emanating from some stakeholders in football in the Country concerning the request for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the TTFA to consider the removal of the Officers of the TTFA who were duly elected at the November 2019 AGM of the TTFA, and who are also expressing concerns about a possible suspension or expelling of the TTFA by FIFA, especially in light of FIFA's recent letter calling on the elected Officers to withdraw their matter from the local High Courts by September 16th, with the pending meeting of the FIFA Annual Congress on September 18.
The stipulations for requesting an EGM are clearly stated in Article 29 of the TTFA's Constitution. "More than 50% of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting (not of the members) must make the request in writing”. Of course, with each Member Association or League submitting an official letter supporting the request with the names of its allotted delegates supporting the request. Of course, also, all Member Associations or Leagues must be provided with a copy of the entire motion and its proposers which is to be debated at the EGM.
<Voting by secret ballot in Covid-19>
The composition of the General Meeting of the TTFA is stated in Article 22 of the Constitution. Note that the total number of delegates allotted is 47; therefore, a number of at least 24 of the accredited Delegates is needed to request a valid EGM.
Now, let us deal with the requested dismissal of the elected officers. Again Article 38 of the TTFA's Constitution is clear on this. Note para. 2: “The motion for dismissal must be justified. It will be sent to the Members of the BOD and/or to the Members along with the agenda”. Note also para. 3:” The person or body in question has the right to defend him/herself”. Also para.4: “The motion for dismissal shall be decided by means of secret ballot. For the motion to be passed a majority of three-quarters of the valid notes is required”. How are we to achieve secret balloting in a virtual meeting in these COVID-19 times?
Finally, note that the FIFA letter installing the Normalization Committee has removed only the Executive (Board of Directors) of the TTFA and replaced it with the Normalization Committee. FIFA has not suspended the Constitution of the TTFA. Also, FIFA has not abolished the Standing Committees that were constitutionally created by the BOD before the advent of the Normalization Committee. Also to my knowledge, FIFA has not removed the General Secretary (GS) from his post. I have been reliably informed that FIFA wrote to the GS, after the establishment of the Normalization Committee, requesting that the GS cooperate with the NC.
I shall not deal here with the merits or demerits of FIFA's removal of the TTFA's Executive and its replacement with the Normalization Committee. This matter is now before the highest Courts of the Country and may very well be sub judice.
(TTFA suspension not on FIFA congress agenda)
Now, a look at the hysteria surrounding the possible suspension or expulsion of the TTFA at the upcoming FIFA Annual Ordinary Congress on September 18.
First, look at the Agenda for the Annual Congress. Yes, there is an item (f) on the Agenda- Suspension or expulsion of a member (if applicable). This item is standard for all Annual Congresses. Contact has been made with Caribbean Colleagues who will be attending the September 18 Congress and I have been informed that the mandatory agenda and accompanying documents sent to them have all made no mention whatsoever of any motion to suspend or expel the TTFA.
The motion to suspend or expel a member can be put before the Annual Congress only by the Council of FIFA, by no other body or person. I have made inquiries about the deliberations of the last FIFA Council Meeting of about three weeks ago, and I have been reliably informed that the only matter that came up concerning the TTFA was the ratification of the Bureau's decision to install the Normalization Committee. No decision was taken to recommend the expulsion or suspension of the TTFA to the Congress.
Article 29 Extraordinary General Meeting
1. The Board of Directors may convene an Extraordinary General Meeting at any time.
2. The Board of Directors shall convene an Extraordinary General Meeting if a majority (more than 50%) of the accredited delegates to the general Meeting make such a request in writing. The request shall specify the items for the agenda. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be held within 30 days of receipt of the request unless the agenda includes the election of members of the Board of Directors or the members of the Electoral Committee, in which case the Extraordinary General Meeting shall be held within 60 days of receipt of the request. If an Extraordinary General Meeting is not convened within the indicated time, the delegates who requested it may convene the Extraordinary General Meeting themselves. As a last resort, the Members may request assistance from FIFA and CONCACAF.
3. The Members shall be notified of the place, date and agenda at least 10 days before the date of an Extraordinary General Meeting.
4. When an Extraordinary General Meeting is convened on the initiative of the Board of Directors, the Board of Directors shall draw up the agenda. When an Extraordinary General Meeting is convened upon the request of Members, the agenda shall contain the points raised by those Members.
5. If one of the items in the agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting includes the election of members of the Board of Directors or members of the Electoral Committee, the Board of Directors shall notify the Members at least 55 days before the date of the Extraordinary General Meeting about the upcoming elections.
6. The agenda of an Extraordinary General Meeting may not be altered.
Article 22 Delegates and votes (TTFA constitution)
1 The General Meeting is composed of 47 Delegates. The number of Delegates is allocated as follows:
a) TT Pro League clubs —10 delegates
b) Trinidad and Tobago Super League Clubs—8 delegates
c) For the Regional Associations
*Central FA—3 delegates
*Eastern FA—3 delegates
*Eastern Counties Football Union—3 delegates
*Northern FA—3 delegates
*Southern FA—3 delegates
*Tobago FA —3 delegates
d) Women Association —2 delegates
e) Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association —2 delegates
f) Futsal Association of T&T (FATT) —2 delegates
g) Primary Schools League—1 delegate
h) Secondary School Football League —1 delegate
i) TTAYSO —1 delegate
j) T&T Beach Soccer Association—1 delegate
k) Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago—1 delegate
2 Each Delegate shall have one (1) vote in the General Meeting. Only the Delegates present are entitled to vote. Voting by proxy or by letter is not permitted.
RELATED NEWS
Downer questions whether FIFA will act on Sept 18.
T&T Express Reports.
SUSPENSION ‘HYSTERIA’
A local football constitution expert has raised questions over whether the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) will indeed be suspended by world governing body, FIFA, if it doesn’t end its High Court action against FIFA by September 16.
Last week, through general secretary Fatma Samoura, FIFA communicated in a letter to Robert Hadad, chairman of the Normalisation Committee it set up to run football in T&T on March 17, that: “We firmly request the TTFA to ask to the TTFA former leadership for an immediate withdrawal of the claim at the Trinidad and Tobago High Court by 16 September 2020, at the latest. We deem that a failure to comply with this directive would result in the commencement of suspension proceedings via the relevant FIFA bodies.”
In a letter yesterday, Osmond Downer, also a former Trinidad and Tobago and FIFA refereeing official, described talk of a suspension for the TTFA as “hysteria.”
He said of the agenda for the FIFA Annual Congress on September 18: “Yes, there is an item (f) on the agenda — Suspension or expulsion of a member (if applicable).” However, he said, “this item is standard for all Annual Congresses.”
He added: “Contact has been made with Caribbean colleagues who will be attending the September 18 Congress and I have been informed that the mandatory agenda and accompanying documents sent to them have all made no mention whatsoever of any motion to suspend or expel the TTFA.
“The motion to suspend or expel a Member can be put before the Annual Congress only by the Council of FIFA, by no other body or person. I have made enquiries about the deliberations of the last FIFA Council Meeting of about three weeks ago, and I have been reliably informed that the only matter that came up concerning the TTFA was the ratification of the Bureau’s decision to install the Normalisation Committee. No decision was taken to recommend the expulsion or suspension of the TTFA to the Congress.”
For a suspension against the TTFA to be implemented, 75 per cent of the 211 FIFA member associations — at least 160 — must agree to it.
Meanwhile, members of the TTFA have been attempting to put together a petition in a effort to get the “United TTFA” faction headed by president William Wallace to withdraw its case in the High Court or even force a removal of the executive.
In his letter, Downer pointed out exactly what it would take to remove elected officers.
Below are the stipulations:
1. The General Meeting may dismiss a person or a member of a body. The Board of Directors may place the dismissal of a person or a member of a body on the agenda for the General Meeting. The Board of Directors may also dismiss a person or a member of a body provisionally. Any Board of Directors member may submit a proposal to place such a motion for dismissal on the agenda of the Board of Directors or General Meeting.
2. The motion for dismissal must be justified. It will be sent to the Members of the Board of Directors and/or to the Members along with the agenda.
3. The person or body in question has the right to defend him--or herself.
4. The motion for dismissal shall be decided by means of secret ballot. For the motion to be passed, a majority of three quarters of the valid votes is required.
5. The person or body dismissed (provisionally) is relieved of his or its functions with immediate effect.
The constitution expert then asked the question: “How are we to achieve secret balloting in a virtual meeting in these Covid 19-times?”
Related Link - Downer: Sancho used local courts—so why not Wallace? And Look Loy was not removed (https://www.socawarriors.net/federation-news/22758-downer-sancho-used-local-courts-so-why-not-wallace-and-look-loy-was-not-removed.html)
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How old is Downer ? This man must be 100 you know.
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Hadad slams offensive Wallace's attacks on FIFA.
By Keith Clement (Guardian).
Chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) Robert Hadad has slammed former T&T Football Association (TTFA) boss Williams Wallace for the offensive manner in which Wallace continues to address the world governing body in the ongoing dispute between the two parties.
Hadad has also knocked Wallace for continuing to use TTFA and FIFA insignia’s on his correspondence, as he is no longer qualified to do so, and called on him to do the right thing to so the game can return to normalcy in this country.
Hadad made the comments in response to an open letter, dated August 26, from Wallace to FIFA president Gianni Infantino which has attacked the normalisation process and the work of Hadad’s team thus far.
In Wallace's letter to Infantino, headed Failure of Normalisation in Trinidad and Tobago, Wallace said: "My vice-presidents and I were elected to lead the TTFA in November 2019. For years before that FIFA had stood-by and watched as mismanagement and cronyism caused havoc for football in Trinidad and Tobago, provoking notable public failures, including the botched Home of Football project in Balmain, Couva. We were elected to bring transparency and financial probity.
"Normalisation is a draconian and unfair act which seeks to undermine the independence of the TTFA and ride roughshod over the will of the electorate who voted for the United TTFA slate in November 2019."
Noting that the two reasons given by FIFA for their intervention in T&T had nothing to do with his former executive, Wallace noted his team was still willing to work with FIFA to resolve the outstanding issues in the interest of T&T football Football. However, Wallace noted his executive should have been given the chance to resolve the issues as opposed to FIFA sending in a normalisation team and again called for mediation in the matter, which is currently before the local courts.
"FIFA cannot continue to ignore our calls to mediate an agreement between the TTFA and FIFA and maintain any moral authority. FIFA must recognise and work with the duly elected executive of the TTFA. Likewise, TTFA must recognise, and does, the need for financial assistance and guidance from FIFA in resolving TTFA’s current financial malaise. If you will not talk and if no agreement is reached, the TTFA is left with no choice but to continue on the path FIFA has forced us down through the courts."
However, in a response on Independence Day (August 31), Hadad told Wallace his letter to Infantino was a complete misrepresentation of the facts.
“As stated in writing on numerous occasions by FIFA, you Mr Wallace, are not recognised as the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president. The TTFA Normalisation Committee which I chair has been appointed by FIFA and is the only legitimate body entrusted to manage/run the affairs of the TTFA as recognised by FIFA, Concacaf and FIFA’s 211 member associations," Hadad wrote.
"Furthermore, you are not authorised to use the TTFA letterhead or any other marking for any communication or representation. Similar to all your correspondence and media interviews, your letter is an example of the campaign of misinformation and disinformation that you and a number of your colleagues from the removed TTFA Executive Committee have undertaken from the inception of not only the normalisation process, but as evidenced from the first day you were in office."
Hadad told Wallace he had ignored the truth and calls from his membership to resolve the issue out of the court.
“You have had every opportunity within the FIFA system to make a case and put forward your position, however, you have voluntarily chosen not to do so and even went so far as withdrawing the matter from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). You know very well that it is a requirement of FIFA, Concacaf and TTFA Statutes that such disputes be managed through CAS, and you know very well the potential consequences for those who ignore important FIFA rules and regulations."
Hadad added: "The tone and content of your letter is offensive, not only to the Normalisation Committee but to the people of Trinidad and Tobago who are working extremely hard for the betterment of football in the country. In recent weeks, the players of our senior men’s national team, our membership at large and other stakeholders have spoken out to you and your cohorts to request that you do the right thing and put Trinidad and Tobago football first."
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Harris hopes T&T football issue ends by Sept 16.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
T&T's Constitutional expert Osmond Downer has come under fire for attempts to clear the air on the use of the constitution to prevent a four-member United T&T Football Association (TTFA) team of William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip from challenging FIFA's decision to appoint a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football.
The United TTFA was removed as the duly elected executive on March 17, just three months after assuming office following the TTFA elections in November last year for what FIFA claimed as administrative flaws that would have plunge the sport into insolvency.
Wallace and his team have since challenged the decision by first going to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland where they complained of institutional bias, before taking their fight to the T&T High Court. The United TTFA later claimed a round-one victory when Justice Carol Gobin on August 13 ruled that the dispute could be heard in the T&T High Court, a direct violation of the FIFA Statutes which state that all grievances by Member Association are to be settled at CAS. FIFA has since appealed the judge's ruling on August 20.
Last Wednesday, FIFA, through its Secretary General Fatma Samoura wrote to Robert Hadad, chairman of the normalisation committee indicating that TTFA could face sanctions from FiFA, if Wallace and his team does not drop the matter from the T&T High Court by September 16 and accept CAS as the body to lodge their legal challenge.
The threat caused football's membership in T&T to take action to stop Wallace and company from continuing their court action against FIFA by attempting to have an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) to remove Wallace and his three vice-presidents as administrators of local football, as well as, lobby with the T&T court to drop the fight against FIFA.
But Downer, sought to make it clear that the membership could not remove the president and his executive, furthermore stop the court battle. He also said in his letter that FIFA Congress on September 18, did not have on its Agenda, the suspension or expulsion of any member association, a comment which was dismissed by Randy Harris, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president who said Downer had got it all wrong.
Harris speaking on the Andre Baptiste's I.95.5FM Radio Show, on Tuesday, said the time to panic in T&T is now, as FIFA is very serious.
"It is my belief that FIFA has offered the United TTFA the opportunity to withdraw the matter from the court on September 16, which gives them two days before the Congress. I believe though that FIFA is of the opinion that the United TTFA would withdraw the matter when consideration is given to what can happen to T&T football," said Harris.
Downer stated that the stipulations for requesting an EGM are clearly stated in Article 29 of the TTFA's constitution.
"More than 50 per cent of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting (not of the members) must make the request in writing. Of course, with each Member Association or League submitting an official letter supporting the request with the names of its allotted delegates supporting the request. Of course, all Member Associations or Leagues must be provided with a copy of the entire motion and its proposers which is to be debated at the EGM. The composition of the General Meeting of the TTFA is stated in Article 22 of the constitution. Note that the total number of delegates allotted is 47; therefore, a number of at least 24 of the accredited delegates is needed to request a valid EGM.
Downer questioned: "How are we going to achieve secret balloting in a virtual meeting in these COVID-19 times?"
He also said the country is not in line to face any sanctions, saying: "Yes, there is an item (f) on the Agenda - Suspension or expulsion of a member (if applicable). This item is standard for all annual Congresses.
"Contact has been made with Caribbean Colleagues who will be attending the September 18 Congress and I have been informed that the mandatory Agenda and accompanying documents sent to them, have all made no mention whatsoever of any motion to suspend or expel the TTFA.
"The motion to suspend or expel a Member can be put before the annual Congress only by the Council of FIFA, by no other body or person. I have made inquiries about the deliberations of the last FIFA Council Meeting of about three weeks ago, and I have been reliably informed that the only matter that came up concerning the TTFA was the ratification of the Bureau’s decision to install the Normalisation Committee. No decision was taken to recommend the expulsion or suspension of the TTFA to the Congress."
However, Harris said: "I know FIFA normally brings matters to the Congress that they deem as emergency, of course, the executive committee of FIFA. They have the authority to bring matters to the Congress and I would like the matter to be dealt with on September 18 and not to drag it on, because the longer it goes, the longer any sanctions can be upheld. We have the qualifications coming up, we have the Gold Cup coming up and we don't want T&T sanctioned.
"I think that is the primary interest of all persons who are committed to the game, and in the Caribbean, especially T&T, is one of our brighter lights and we would not like to see anything happen to T&T football."
RELAtED NEWS
CFU president: We don’t want TTFA to be suspended.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
RANDY Harris, president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), says the regional governing body does not want the TT Football Association (TTFA) to be suspended by FIFA if it does not end its High Court matter against FIFA by September 16.
Harris was speaking in an interview on I95.5 FM on Tuesday.
On Monday, Osmond Downer, former FIFA referee and one of the framers of the TTFA constitution, expressed his doubts that FIFA can expel or suspend the TTFA at its annual ordinary congress on September 18.
Downer, in a media release on Monday, wrote, “I have been informed (by Caribbean colleagues who will be attending the congress) that the mandatory agenda and accompanying documents sent to them have all made no mention whatsoever of any motion to suspend or expel the TTFA.
“The motion to suspend or expel a member can be put before the annual congress only by the council of FIFA – by no other body or person,” Downer added. “I have made inquiries about the deliberations of the last FIFA council meeting of about three weeks ago, and I have been reliably informed that the only matter that came up concerning the TTFA was the ratification of the Bureau’s decision to install the normalisation committee.
“No decision was taken to recommend the expulsion or suspension of the TTFA to the congress.”
According to Harris, “It is my belief that FIFA has offered the TTFA the opportunity to withdraw the matter of the court decision on (September 16), which gives them two days before the congress is held.
“I believe that FIFA is of the opinion that the United TTFA would withdraw the matter,” Harris continued. “In the Caribbean, (T&T) is one of our brighter lights and we certainly would not like to have anything happen to T&T’s football.”
Concerning Downer’s view that FIFA would not have enough time, Harris said, “I know FIFA usually brings matters to the congress that they deem as an emergency. The executive committee of FIFA have the authority to bring matters to the congress.
“I would like the matter to be dealt with on the 18th of September and not to drag on, because the longer it goes, the longer any sanctions can be upheld. We have the (World Cup) qualifications coming up, the Gold Cup coming up and we don’t want that T&T (to be) sanctioned during any of these tournaments. We want them to be included in our schedules and our competitions.”
Harris also responded to Downer’s claim that he spoke to persons in the Caribbean who seem unaware that T&T can be sanctioned in the congress meeting.
“We, in the Caribbean, are hoping that the United TTFA would really do what it is in the best interest of football in the Caribbean. We are not waiting on any sanction or any suspension. We are hoping that the matter is dealt with before the deadline of September 16.”
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Wallace not fazed by Hadad’s comments.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
WILLIAM Wallace, the ousted president of the TTFA (TT Football Association), is not fazed by statements made towards him, in a letter issued on Monday by Robert Hadad, chairman of the TTFA normalisation committee.
Wallace and his former executive (vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip) are currently challenging FIFA’s decision to remove them, in March, and install a normalisation committee.
On August 13, Justice Carol Gobin, in the Port of Spain High Court, ruled that the matter involving Wallace and the United TTFA team, and FIFA, can be heard at the High Court and not the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Hadad, in his email to Wallace, referred to Wallace’s letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino on August 26, in which Wallace wrote, “Normalisation is a draconian and unfair act which seeks to undermine the independence of the TTFA and ride roughshod over the will of the electorate who voted for the United TTFA slate (in the TTFA elections) in November.”
Describing Wallace’s letter as “a complete misinterpretation of the facts”, Hadad wrote, “Wallace voluntarily chose not to make a case within the FIFA system and put forward his position. However, he withdrew the matter from CAS.”
When contacted on Tuesday, Wallace said, “I saw the letter. I just went through it. I have not formed any opinion of it. I prefer to not even respond to that.”
Asked if his focus is, instead, on the legal matter with FIFA, Wallace replied, “Yes. There is nothing there (with Hadad’s letter) for me to respond to.”
Hadad, in his letter, claimed that the tone and the content of Wallace’s letter was offensive, not only to the normalisation committee but to the people of T&T. The normalisation committee head mentioned that T&T players, membership and stakeholders requested that Wallace do the right thing and put T&T football first.
Wallace, regarding “the tone and content” of the letter, noted, “That’s Mr Hadad’s opinion. He’s entitled to that.”
About the request that he “do the right thing”, Wallace said, “The right thing is very subjective. What is the right thing? That’s a matter of perspective. That is right for some people and, for others, it’s not the right thing. We have some time on our hands and we’ll see how things progress.”
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Sport minister vows to ditch TTFA if Fifa acts, Wired868 examines fall-out as Wallace misses key meeting.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) traditionally depends on funding from two main sources to carry out its operations: international governing body, Fifa, and the Ministry of Sport—via the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT).
Besieged TTFA president William Wallace could potentially lose both patrons with just one vote, on the eve of the Fifa Congress on 18 September.
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura advised that, unless Wallace withdraws a High Court case against the Zurich-based body by 16 September, it will initiate the process to formally suspend the TTFA at the upcoming congress.
For the suspension to be ratified, Fifa president Gianni Infantino must get 75 percent of its 211 member associations—at least 160 MAs—to agree to bench the Soca Warriors.
Infantino and his team are believed to be canvassing diligently to get the requisite number of backers, including from among the Caribbean’s 25 full member associations. However it is not necessarily cut and dry.
While Fifa expects to get the support of the Caribbean nations to admonish one of its colleagues, there is a hint that some countries less enamoured by Infantino at present might use the impasse to embarrass the president, who is facing criminal charges in his homeland of Switzerland.
Do Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip—whose defiance of Fifa earned the initial support of High Court Judge Carol Gobin on 13 August—hold their nerve and risk suspension in the face of Infantino’s bullying tactics?
Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe yesterday raised the stakes higher still. If the TTFA is suspended, Wallace can expect little more financial support than what the likes of the scrabble and ballroom dancing associations get by on.
“There are 54 recognised sporting disciplines [under the Ministry of Sport] including bodies like Scrabble and Ballroom Dancing,” Cudjoe told Wired868. “Football is among 12 sporting bodies that qualify for higher investment under SporTT and which we work with to help their athletes to attain the highest possible level within the world.
“[If they are suspended] there certainly will not be that level of investment we put in right now, which is to get them to the highest international level of their sport, following a certain growth path.
“[…] You can’t feel you will turn your back on the funding and support from Fifa in this guava season and expect the taxpayers to support you. That will not be happening.”
Sports Company chairman Douglas Camacho echoed Cudjoe’s view. The Ministry of Sport puts a dozen ‘special’ sport bodies under the SporTT for support, but Camacho said that one must be ‘in good standing with your international governing body’ and have ‘a legitimate expectation of making it to the top level’ to qualify for the privilege.
“As the chairman of the Sports Company, I would support anyone having the opportunity to go to the highest level of the international game,” said Camacho. “Anyone who doesn’t have that aspiration should not fall under the Sports Company.”
He suggested that government funding offered to domestic football competitions like the Pro League would also end, with diminished support going instead to the grassroots game.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Sport held an online discussion on ‘the way forward for football in Trinidad and Tobago’ and invited Wallace and his vice-presidents, Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad and several football stakeholders including: acting Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, Women’s League of Football (WoLF) general secretary Jamilya Muhammad, acting Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Phillip Fraser, Morvant Caledonia United co-founder Jamaal Shabazz and former TTFA president and W Connection president David John-Williams.
Neither Wallace nor his vice-presidents attended.
“Some of the people at the meeting said it was disrespectful that none of them attended,” said Camacho.
Cudjoe said that, based on what she was told by stakeholders at the meeting, the non-appearance of Wallace and his colleagues may have been a deliberate snub or ‘boycott’.
“It was the right and proper opportunity for them to speak on their plans,” said Cudjoe. “Should they win a battle and lose the war, what is their plan for football?”
Wallace said he was invited to the Ministry of Sport’s discussion via a phone call at 10am on Thursday. He said he was awaiting an emailed invitation with the meeting’s agenda before he decided whether to attend.
“I received a call at 10am [on Thursday] and was told that an invitation would be sent,” Wallace told Wired868. “Nothing came to my email. However, late that evening in a discussion with someone, they told me to check my spam mail; and the invitation was there.”
Cudjoe, who forwarded proof of her staff’s attempts to reach Wallace, was not convinced by the former Carapichaima East Secondary vice-principal’s explanation.
“My deputy PS contacted Wallace and spoke to him and them sent him an email,” said Cudjoe. “At about 4pm, when we recognised he and his vice-presidents were not present, she called him again and sent him Whats App messages. He did not respond to any until much later. So that talk about spam is a really strange claim.”
On Friday evening, Wallace wrote to the Ministry of Sport to say that he is unavailable to meet the minister due to ‘legal advice’. The TTFA’s legal team is headed by Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle.
“Based on legal advice, unfortunately, it would be inappropriate for us to meet with the minister at this point in time,” stated Wallace, who complained earlier this year about Cudjoe’s perceived reluctance to meet him, “to have any discussions pertaining to a matter presently before our honourable courts. I do hope the minister understands.”
The minister does not understand.
“At the end of the day, it seems they are adamant about going forward with the case—but it is a selfish move since it doesn’t redound to the benefit of our athletes,” said Cudjoe. “In a recent radio interview, Mr Wallace said it doesn’t matter if we lose two or three years [to suspension]. I think that is a very unfortunate position for the people who rely on football as an income generator.
“[…] Two to three years might not be a long time for someone like Wallace, but it is a very long time if you are an athlete. At the end of the day, it is not the managers who suffer; it is the players.”
In the absence of Wallace and his colleagues—Super League president and United TTFA member Keith Look Loy said he was not invited—the meeting was described as almost universally in condemnation of the TTFA officers’ court action. Selby Browne, who heads the Veteran Footballers Foundation (VFFOTT), led the charge while Hadad also petitioned Cudjoe for support against Wallace.
Although Hadad bears the responsibility for talking Wallace out of the court case, the HadCo Limited co-CEO has not spoken to the TTFA president since March. And persons who attended Thursdays’ meeting said Hadad used part of his speaking time to defend the controversial tenure of Wallace’s predecessor, John-Williams.
If the growing number of persons unhappy with the court action—or at least its potential ramifications—failed to get overt support from the government, Thursday’s meeting, coupled with Wallace’s no-show, might have galvanised their view.
On Monday, unhappy stakeholders intend to hand Hadad a petition of support for his normalisation committee, which insists that they are not in favour of the actions of the TTFA’s elected officers and were never consulted on the issue.
“Despite several attempts to use moral suasion to have [Wallace, Taylor, Phillip, Warrick, Look Loy and Anthony Harford] cease these aggressive legal manoeuvres, they have continued to do so without the support of the members of TTFA,” stated the petition. “We the delegates and members of the TTFA are fully aware of the contractual agreements between TTFA and Fifa and as such we totally support any sanction that Fifa deems necessary to implement on the United TTFA.
“However, we are a football loving nation in Trinidad and Tobago and we kindly ask that you continue to assist the growth and the development of football in this country. And we humbly request that you do not ban Trinidad and Tobago […] as a result of the erratic, arrogant, irrational and selfish behaviour of the minority, namely the members of the United TTFA.
“They clearly lack transparency, accountability, humility and the desire to take football forward for Trinidad and Tobago.”
Notably, Wallace said prior that he and his vice-presidents filed as elected officers—but not as the TTFA itself—so as to shield the local game from sanction. Infantino and Samoura failed to make that distinction so far, even as they claim that the quartet are ‘former’ officials.
The TTFA Constitution requires the consent of 66 percent of the football body to suspend a member or 75 percent to expel the offending party. There should be 49 voting delegates, according to the constitution, but the Players and Coaches Association (one vote each) are both defunct, which leaves 47 eligible delegates at present.
Wired868 understands that the status of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA), which has two delegates and generally leans in favour of United TTFA, is under threat by TTFA and could also be stripped of its ability to vote. But that is far from a done deal.
So, at present, a maximum of 45 delegates to decide the fate of Wallace and his team. Sancho and his party would need 30 members to suspend the elected officers and 34 to eject them from office outright.
However, article 29.2 states that: ‘an extraordinary general meeting shall be held within 30 days of receipt of the request’.
If Sancho, Browne or any of the other dissidents wanted to remove Wallace according to the constitution and in time to stave off a Fifa ban, the deadline to request an extraordinary general meeting was on Monday 17 August.
But then Fifa’s insistence that it effectively seized control of the TTFA on 13 March arguably complicated things. If Wallace was already the ‘former’ president, why would Sancho and company need to vote him out?
Still, if the TTFA’s members show that they have enough support to make Wallace’s removal a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, would the president step aside before he is constitutionally obliged to do so?
At present, Wallace is on the right side of the constitution and the High Court. But he is unlikely to feel as though he is winning.
Cudjoe suggested that Wallace must have known Fifa’s rules when he ran for president. Is the implied suggestion that Infantino’s view ultimately counts for more than the ruling of Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court?
The minister of sport tried to be careful as she framed her response to Madame Justice Gobin’s ruling.
“What the High Court says is what the High Court says,” said Cudjoe, “but the government has made significant investment in football over the years, in the Super League, Pro League and with national football teams. Then you can talk about the government’s plans to expand sport tourism, utilising our football infrastructure.
“So to make that kind of investment and then be told that they care more about making a point to Fifa is very unfortunate.”
Camacho offered a viewpoint that matched Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s recent quip about a frog crossing the road in Tobago, who refused to yield to an incoming truck since he felt he had the right of way.
“I want to be right,” said Camacho, “but not dead right.”
Although Wallace turned down the chance to talk to Cudjoe, the sport minister offered him counsel anyway.
“My simple advice [to Wallace], from one Tobagonian to another,” said the Tobago West Member of Parliament, “head ent make to wear hat alone. Let good sense prevail.”
Rejected by Fifa, Wallace and his team are served notice that they will be abandoned by the government next—and maybe their membership before that.
“I don’t know if they thought that Fifa is an institution that bluffs,” said Camacho. “If anything Fifa has demonstrated the opposite; that it is more likely to act harshly first and then give an ease later.”
The United TTFA is in a bind.
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FIFA steps into Venezuelan power vacuum with Normalisation Committee
Insideworldfootball.
September 3 – Venezuela is the latest country to have its affairs run by FIFA after being plunged into yet more turmoil.
Football’s world governing body has appointed a Normalisation Committee to run the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) following the death of Acting President Jesús Berardinelli last month.
The committee will manage the FVF on a day-to-day basis until June 30 of next year at the latest and will organise elections because of the “leadership vacuum” within the federation.
Berardinelli had been in charge since January after Laureano González stepped down citing health problems.
González had himself taken over from predecessor Rafael Esquivel, a former Conmebol vice-president who was one of the original “Zurich Seven” in the FifaGate scandal and who pleaded guilty to seven counts of racketeering, money laundering conspiracies and wire fraud.
Berardinelli died 16 days after being arrested in July on corruption charges, two days after which he was transferred to a clinic due to respiratory failure.
In a statement FIFA said the FVF “is currently facing a situation in which its President and first vice-president are permanently absent”.
“This leadership vacuum prevents the FVF from taking key administrative and sporting decisions during these critical times, which could impact negatively on the development of Venezuelan football at all levels.”
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Wallace reminded FIFA is in charge.
Ian Prescott (Express).
FIFA IN CHARGE: Robert Hadad, Normalisation Committee Chair
WILLIAM WALLACE has been reminded that he is no longer president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
This, after Wallace sent out correspondence to FIFA member associations seeking support and asking them “to investigate FIFA’s decision ahead of the Congress in an effort to protect football democracy and fair play.”
The warning to Wallace came in a letter from local businessman Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee. Hadad informed of being in receipt of a copy of the letter Wallace sent to the international football family, and urged him to desist from suggesting that he still represents the TTFA.
“You Mr. Wallace, are not recognised as the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president,” Hadad stated in a letter to the former Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president. Hadad instructed Wallace that he is not to speak for the TTFA.
“The TTFA Normalisation Committee which I chair has been appointed by FIFA and is the only legitimate body entrusted to manage/run the affairs of the TTFA as recognised by FIFA, CONCACAF and FIFA’s 211 Member Associations.”
“Furthermore, you are not authorised to use the TTFA letterhead or any other marking for any communication or representation,” Hadad added.
A mere four months after winning TTFA elections, Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were booted from office in March 2020, when FIFA intervened and appointed its own Normalisation Committee to run local football.
Wallace’s dismissed executive has since initiated T&T High Court proceedings against FIFA, contrary to the world body’s statutes, which mandate suspension from international football for such action. With speculation rife that T&T faces impending suspension this month, Wallace has sought international support.
However, Hadad’s position was recently reinforced by FIFA’s Senegalese general secretary Fatma Samoura in an August 26 letter giving the “former” TTFA executive a September deadline to withdraw High Court action against FIFA or face sanctions.
“We firmly request the TTFA to ask ‘the TTFA former leadership’ for an immediate withdrawal of the claim at the Trinidad and Tobago High Court by 16 September 2020, at the latest,” Samoura stated.
Consequently, former T&T Sport Minister Brent Sancho said a petition demanding that Wallace and company drop the High Court action will be sent to Hadad. Over 50 per cent of TTFA delegates have signed the petition.
“Well, Wallace is no longer president,” stated TTFA Board member Brent Sancho. “He stopped being president when FIFA appointed the Normalisation Committee. The Normalisation Committee is in charge. They are the ones the membership have to deal with, not Wallace.”
Hadad also reminded Wallace of the position taken by FIFA in Samoura’s letter.
“In recent weeks the players of our senior men’s national team, our membership at large and other stakeholders have spoken out to you and your cohorts to request that you do the right thing and put Trinidad and Tobago football first. You have also ignored your own government who gave you the opportunity to speak.”
“Mr. Wallace, the FIFA and CONCACAF position on this matter is clear and unequivocal. You know very well the risks you are taking,” said Hadad. “The choice is very clear: do the right thing prior to the deadline of September 16th established by FIFA or continue down your path and jeopardise the futures and opportunities for our national team players and coaches, and for football as a whole in our country.”
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Dear editor: Will you tell your children to accept abuse, once there’s money in it?
Wired868.com.
“[…] I imagine the people who support Fifa’s intervention, in the face of a High Court ruling, would give this advice to their children: ‘When you’re accepting payment from someone, abuse is justified’…”
The following Letter to the Editor on Fifa’s takeover of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) was submitted by Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-15 Team and Presentation College (San Fernando) goalkeeper coach, Jefferson George:
So in the era of #BlackLivesMatter and the outcry for social justice, must we accept Fifa pushing a knife down our throats once they are also putting a few sweets into our pockets?
I imagine the people who support Fifa’s intervention, in the face of a High Court ruling, would give this advice to their children: ‘When you’re accepting payment from someone, abuse is justified’.
I encourage everyone interested in the Trinidad and Tobago football fraternity to read Judge Carol Gobin’s ruling and examine her judgement against Fifa. Regardless of our personal feelings about the individuals involved, the world’s governing body obviously does not apply its ‘fair play’ mantra to its own operations.
We love invoking Rosa Parks and her stance—or more literally sit-in—against segregation without recognising the personal consequences she endured in doing so. Freedom and liberty always comes with a high price because those who benefit from maintaining the status quo will fight to keep it in place.
So it is evident, if the efforts against injustice is weaker than the unjust systems themselves, then those systems will all remain in place—doling out crumbs to give the appearance of benevolence, while becoming fat off of the work of its participants.
Are you willing to pay the price for justice, T&T?
RELATED NEWS
Downer: Fate of TTFA NOT on Congress agenda; so Fifa can’t suspend T&T on 18 Sept.
Wired868.com.
“[…] I have made inquiries about the deliberations of the last Fifa Council Meeting of about three weeks ago, and I have been reliably informed that the only matter that came up concerning the TTFA was the ratification of the Bureau’s decision to install the normalisation committee…”
The following is a release by TTFRA vice-president Osmond Downer, one of the framers of the TTFA Constitution, on the move to oust president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip; and a possible suspension by Fifa:
Please allow me to comment on certain statements emanating from some stakeholders in football in the country concerning the request for an Extraordinary General Meeting of the TTFA to consider the removal of the officers of the TTFA.
[Those officers] were duly elected at the November 2019 AGM of the TTFA and are also expressing concerns about a possible suspension or expelling of the TTFA by Fifa, especially in light of Fifa’s recent letter calling on the elected officers to withdraw their matter from the local High Courts by 16 September, with the pending meeting of the FIFA Annual Congress on 18 September.
The stipulations for requesting an EGM are clearly stated in Article 29 of the TTFA’s Constitution: ‘More than 50% of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting (not of the members) must make the request in writing’.
Of course, with each Member Association or League submitting an official letter supporting the request with the names of its allotted delegates supporting the request. Of course also, all Member Associations or Leagues must be provided with a copy of the entire motion and its proposers, which is to be debated at the EGM.
The composition of the General Meeting of the TTFA is stated in Article 22 of the Constitution. Note that the total number of delegates allotted is 47; therefore, a number of at least 24 of the accredited delegates is needed to request a valid EGM.
Now, let us deal with the requested dismissal of the elected officers. Again Article 38 of the TTFA’s Constitution is clear on this. Note paragraph two: ‘The motion for dismissal must be justified. It will be sent to the members of the [board of directors] and/or to the members along with the agenda’.
Note also paragraph three: ‘The person or body in question has the right to defend him/herself’. Also paragraph four: ‘The motion for dismissal shall be decided by means of secret ballot. For the motion to be passed, a majority of three quarters of the valid votes is required’.
How are we to achieve secret balloting in a virtual meeting in these Covid-19 times?
Finally here, note that the Fifa letter installing the normalisation committee has removed only the executive (board of directors) of the TTFA and replaced it with the normalisation committee.
Fifa has not suspended the Constitution of the TTFA. Also Fifa has not abolished the standing committees that were constitutionally created by the BOD before the advent of the normalisation committee.
Also to my knowledge, Fifa has not removed the general secretary from his post. I have been reliably informed that Fifa wrote to the general secretary, after the establishment of the normalisation committee, requesting that the general secretary cooperate with the normalisation committee.
I shall not deal here with the merits or demerits of Fifa’s removal of the TTFA’s Executive and its replacement with the normalisation committee. This matter is now before the highest courts of the country and may very well be sub judice.
Now, a look at the hysteria surrounding the possible suspension or expulsion of the TTFA at the upcoming Fifa Annual Ordinary Congress on 18 September.
First, look at the agenda for the Annual Congress. Yes, there is an item (f) on the agenda: Suspension or expulsion of a member (if applicable). This item is standard for all Annual Congresses.
Contact has been made with Caribbean Colleagues who will be attending the September 18 Congress and I have been informed that the mandatory agenda and accompanying documents sent to them have all made no mention whatsoever of any motion to suspend or expel the TTFA.
The motion to suspend or expel a member can be put before the Annual Congress only by the Council of FIFA—by no other body or person. I have made inquiries about the deliberations of the last Fifa Council Meeting of about three weeks ago, and I have been reliably informed that the only matter that came up concerning the TTFA was the ratification of the Bureau’s decision to install the normalisation committee.
No decision was taken to recommend the expulsion or suspension of the TTFA to the Congress.
Editor’s Note: Fifa president Gianni Infantino cannot put the possible suspension of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) on the agenda in time for the 18 September Fifa Congress.
However, Infantino can call a meeting of the seven-member Bureau of the Fifa Council at any time. Article 38.1 states: ‘The Bureau of the Council shall deal with all matters within the competence of the Council requiring immediate decision between two meetings of the Council’.
As such, Fifa can temporarily suspend the TTFA through its Bureau of the Council and the local body will remain suspended until the Council—and ultimately the Congress—meets to decide whether to accept or revoke the Bureau’s decision.
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TV6 ME: United TTFA discuss Fifa ban on Morning Show. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjOIQgkUHZ8&feature=emb_title)
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Petitions delivered but Look Loy claiming majority support.
T&T Guardian Reports.
"The people who have voted the United T&T Football Association into power are supporting us to fight the FIFA," said Keith Look Loy, the United TTFA member on Thursday.
Look Loy was responding to a meeting of the sport's stakeholders held by Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe on August 27, in which she called on the members to “take action and let good sense prevail in the matter.” During the meeting Minister Cudjoe reminded the membership “about the work and investment that the Government has and continues to make in football and the campaign for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the opportunities that will be lost for economic expansion through sports tourism and the loss in the potential, that sport and in particular football, has for addressing the ills in many communities”.
Two petitions from the membership were signed and delivered to the chairman of the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee businessman Robert Hadad on Monday. This was confirmed by Kieron Edwards, president of Eastern Football Association (EFA) on Thursday. He told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday that, “The membership is not in support of the action of the former president Mr William Wallace and his team. The Petitions will show that 34 Members clubs, Zones and Affiliates are not in support of the Court matter with FIFA and (24) out of a maximum 47 delegates are calling for an Emergency General Meeting.”
The petitions according to Edwards, the chief campaigner, are to force former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, to drop their legal battle against football’s world governing body FIFA. FIFA has given the United TTFA team until September 16 to withdraw the matter for the T&T courts and go back to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which is based in Switzerland, since that is the jurisdiction for settling the dispute between the parties according to FIFA statutes, or face sanctions.
However, Look Loy, a former national coach and FIFA Development Officer described the stakeholders' meeting as a lynching or a set-up. He told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that the petition which was aimed at securing an Emergency General Meeting of the TTFA membership to remove the United TTFA battle with football's world governing body over the appointment of a Normalisation Committee to govern T&T football, from the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago included non-approved signatures.
However, Edwards said, "Look Loy is anticipating who are the signatories and he can only go by what some members may have told him. The petitions are with the Normalisation committee with legitimate signatories."
On August 13 the T&T High Court Judge Carol Gobin ruled that the dispute between the FIFA and the TTFA could be heard in T&T, a direct violation of the FIFA Statutes, which point to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland as the jurisdiction for all disputes by Member Associations.
FIFA has since appealed the ruling on August 20, but warned the TTFA in a letter from its general secretary Fatma Samoura on August 26 and addressed to Hadad, warning that the TTFA face sanctions if it did not withdraw the matter out of the T&T High Court by September 16, two days before FIFA holds its Congress.
Both FIFA and the TTFA will head back to the Court of Appeal on October 19 under a panel of judges. This hearing will determine how the entire TTFA vs FIFA matter will proceed.
According to Look Loy, the former chairman of the TTFA Technical Committee, "What will happen there is, that if we lose, then we will either drop the case or go to the Privy Council. Similarly, if FIFA loses, it will drop or go to the Privy Council. If we do return to the High Court for the hearing of our request for a permanent injunction against FIFA and its normalisation committee this will have an impact on FIFA, because once the High Court rules in our favour, then Wallace and his team will manage the sport."
Look Loy, the President of the T&T Super League said that their legal team has been totally astonished by the actions of the FIFA, for saying it does not recognise the local courts while attending hearings and even appealing a decision. "If FIFA does not show up for their own Court of Appeal claim then the matter can be thrown out," Look Loy said.
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Wallace emails Fifa members for support from ‘oppressive’ leadership; Hadad slams ‘misinformation’
Wired868.com.
William Wallace: “[…] We believe the imposition of the normalisation committee as punishment for our revelation of the previous administration’s financial impropriety, which was ignored by Fifa…”
Robert Hadad: “[…] Your letter is an example of the campaign of misinformation and disinformation that you and a number of your colleagues from the removed TTFA Executive Committee, have undertaken from the inception of not only the normalisation process, but as evidenced from the first day you were in office…”
The following is an ‘appeal’ for support by Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace, which was emailed to Fifa’s 210 member associations; and the response from Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad:
27 August 2020,
Dear Fellow Presidents,
On 24 November 2019, in a free and fair elections supervised by Concacaf and Fifa, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) consisting of 46 delegates elected myself and my team to lead the TTFA by a vote of 26 to 20. Defeated candidates immediately spoke publicly of normalisation by Fifa.
It is the norm for Fifa and Concacaf to provide funding for its member associations in January of each year. No funding came to the TTFA and on enquiring, the persons at Fifa’s Finance Department could not provide any clear answers as to why, like all other MAs we the TTFA did not receive funding.
I was eventuality instructed to speak to Mr Véron Mosengo-Omba who indicated to me that Fifa would be sending a delegation to Trinidad and Tobago before we receive any funding.
We nonetheless continued to conduct the business of the TTFA and were able to accomplish many things under the challenging conditions we inherited, without the funding. We were able to start attracting international and local sponsors. Noteworthy is that among the international sponsors, we were able to sign an MOU with one of them which spoke to the paying off of the TTFA $50M debt.
Importantly also was the setting up of the Finance Committee and examination of the internal financial environment of TTFA. This exercise generated a comprehensive report, which identified the absence of any internal control and clear structures in the financial operations of the TTFA.
This unfortunate situation would have existed for four years under the previous administration. It was also unfortunate that Fifa’s annual audit over that period did not make this discovery and if it did, made no demands that the administration put these structures in place.
We also discovered financial impropriety committed by the previous administration, which we revealed. It was against this background that the Fifa/Concacaf mission arrived in Trinidad & Tobago on 26 February 2020.
Incidentally, part of the mandate of the mission was to examine the internal financial structures of the TTFA. We took the opportunity to present them with our findings and the response to the document was, and I quote: ‘This is 50% of our work completed’.
The other area of concern raised by the mission was our approach in dealing with the historic debt. We were able to present to the team a comprehensive MOU signed between ourselves and a business entity out of the UK that outlined a clear initiative to deal with the USD 7 million debt that we inherited.
On 17 March we learnt via the Fifa website that a normalisation committee was set up to run Trinidad and Tobago football.
The disturbing facts about all of this were:
1. TTFA never received a report from the Fifa/ Concacaf visit.
2. As a new executive we were never engaged by Fifa or Concacaf in any meaningful way to discuss the issues of the TTFA.
3. The two reasons stated in Fifa’s subsequent official communication for setting up the normalisation committee are:
• ‘the absence of internal financial systems in the TTFA’ (Curiously the report that was generated by the new executive and handed to the mission was sent back verbatim to support this reason).
• ‘the historic debt’
It must also be noted that it was the first time that any executive presented a plan to deal with the historic debt and yet that plan was never given a chance to materialise. We believe the imposition of the normalisation committee as punishment for our revelation of the previous administration’s financial impropriety, which was ignored by Fifa.
On 7 April 2020 we filed an appeal against Fifa’s decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. We subsequently withdrew the appeal when Fifa refused to pay its share of the Court fee, while, in our view, CAS itself demonstrated clear bias in favour of Fifa.
On 18 May we filed a complaint with the Trinidad and Tobago High Court seeking a permanent injunction against Fifa’s action and its normalisation committee. Fifa responded by filing a complaint challenging the jurisdiction of the local court.
On 13 August 2020 the local High Court decided in favour of TTFA, clearing the way for the Court to hear the substantive case regarding the normalisation committee.
Fifa has appealed this decision but on 26 August threatened suspension of TTFA unless the case in the local Court is withdrawn. The intention is clearly to place TTFA before the Congress on 18 September.
We do not understand how FIFA could remove the persons elected in November 2019, who they continually refer to as ‘former officers’, yet threaten to suspend the Association [if] these ‘former officers’ do not end their legal action.
We have written seven times to Fifa seeking mediation of this matter, without success. We have always been prepared to work with Fifa to resolve TTFA’s financial issues but Fifa must recognise the Association’s elected officers.
We view Fifa’s action as undemocratic, untimely and oppressive, given the fact that the newly elected administration elected had held office for less than four months. We insist, under the law of natural justice, on our right to be heard at the 18 September Congress.
We hereby appeal to all fair-minded Member Associations of Fifa to investigate Fifa’s decision in an effort to protect football democracy and fair play, since just like you we are members under the FIFA umbrella.
Yours sincerely
William Wallace,
TTFA president
Port of Spain, 31 August 2020
Dear Mr Wallace,
I am in receipt of a copy of a letter you have sent to the international football family. Your letter is a complete misrepresentation of the facts.
As stated in writing on numerous occasions by Fifa, you Mr Wallace, are not recognised as the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (TTFA) President. The TTFA normalisation committee which I chair has been appointed by Fifa and is the only legitimate body entrusted to manage/run the affairs of the TTFA as recognised by Fifa, Concacaf and Fifa’s 211 Member Associations.
Furthermore, you are not authorised to use the TTFA letterhead or any other marking for any communication or representation.
Similar to all your correspondence and media interviews, your letter is an example of the campaign of misinformation and disinformation that you and a number of your colleagues from the removed TTFA Executive Committee, have undertaken from the inception of not only the normalisation process, but as evidenced from the first day you were in office.
You have completely ignored the truth and your membership.
You have had every opportunity within the Fifa system to make a case and put forward your position, however you have voluntarily chosen not to do so and even went so far as withdrawing the matter from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
You know very well that it is a requirement of Fifa, Concacaf and TTFA Statutes that such disputes be managed through CAS, and you know very well the potential consequences for those who ignore important FIFA rules and regulations.
The tone and content of your letter is offensive, not only to the normalisation committee, but to the people of Trinidad and Tobago who are working extremely hard for the betterment of football in the country.
In recent weeks the players of our Senior Men’s National Team, our membership at large and other stakeholders have spoken out to you and your cohorts to request that you do the right thing and put Trinidad and Tobago football first. You have also ignored your own government who gave you the opportunity to speak.
Mr Wallace, the Fifa and Concacaf position on this matter is clear and unequivocal. You know very well the risks you are taking and, quite frankly, the time for your campaign of misinformation is over.
The choice is very clear: do the right thing prior to the deadline of September 16th established by Fifa or continue down your path and jeopardise the futures and opportunities for our national team players and coaches, and for football as a whole in our country.
Yours Respectfully,
Robert Hadad
Chairman
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
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I like Wallace Action here. (Just the position I thought he was setting up all along). If he is true this will turn out fine and a real moral boost for T&T football. Pride on the field. Dey must be paying Hadad good money to take on all this extra writing...or DJW and them musbe have some dirt on him.
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I like Wallace Action here. (Just the position I thought he was setting up all along). If he is true this will turn out fine and a real moral boost for T&T football. Pride on the field. Dey must be paying Hadad good money to take on all this extra writing...or DJW and them musbe have some dirt on him.
Like yuh deliberately inviting Contro to ride your way. ;D
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You know what’s the main thing that everyone fails to discuss? All this is david John Williams doing.
It was him who didn’t want to respect the process and go away quietly, he could have told his friend infantino to allow the democratic process to continue and took his losses like a big man, but instead he stoked the fire causing FIFA to come down on the United ttfa, and if he had any love for country or football he would have told his buddy to ease up, but instead he sits quietly hoping for his return to the throne.
I just can’t believe some people could be so selfish and dastardly. how could you love your country or football for that matter and allow this to happen after you brought the federation to its knees by your own doing. this man is absolutely unbelievably wicked and selfish.
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You know what’s the main thing that everyone fails to discuss? All this is david John Williams doing.
It was him who didn’t want to respect the process and go away quietly, he could have told his friend infantino to allow the democratic process to continue and took his losses like a big man, but instead he stoked the fire causing FIFA to come down on the United ttfa, and if he had any love for country or football he would have told his buddy to ease up, but instead he sits quietly hoping for his return to the throne.
I just can’t believe some people could be so selfish and dastardly. how could you love your country or football for that matter and allow this to happen after you brought the federation to its knees by your own doing. this man is absolutely unbelievably wicked and selfish.
AMEN!
His name needs to be brought up. Him and Infantino had a great relationship while he was president. Infantino did not have any concerns about how the TTFA was operating. This only came up after djw was dethroned. He's behind all of this.
Wallace's letter was a good move. I'm sure there are a few other MAs that are ready to call FIFA out on their sh*t.
This might be a fetch, but a possible good outcome. If FIFA loses the appeal in the high court, then the United TTFA might have a leg to stand on if they take the case to the CAS. The CAS might not want to side with FIFA after a judge has ruled against them on two occasions. And if they do, it can possibly expose the bias the CAS has with FIFA.
Overall I think the implementation of the NC is to prevent information about the psst dealings of djw from coming out. Also to protect Infantino. As he would have some knowledge about djws dealings and he turned a blind eye. We'll see
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FIFA: Fair play or fear play? Spotlight on TTFA and FIFA
By Ricardo Williams and J Tyrone Marcus (T&T Express)
The Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) recently published fixtures for the preliminary round of the prestigious Concacaf Gold Cup in 2021. Outside of the FIFA World Cup, the Gold Cup is the biggest tournament for national teams in this geographical region, including our beloved “Soca Warriors”. Well, let’s prepare to watch the next edition of this tournament with our team right here next to us, not because of closed borders but because of the potential embarrassment of a ban from international football.
Fourteen years ago, we were all filled with indescribable pride as we watched Yorke, Latapy, Hislop, Theobald, Birchall, and others grace the fields of Germany, grabbing an unexpected point against Sweden with only ten men in the second half and losing narrowly to England and Paraguay in the other group games. Now, instead of building steadily since the glory of the 2006 World Cup, we’re fighting again. It seems as though there’s always some bacchanal with Trinidad and Tobago’s football.
Many of those historic players from 2006 ended up in court against the Oliver Camps-led Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF, now reverted to TTFA) for unpaid bonuses arising from the Germany World Cup. Since that time, the national governing body for football would see lawsuits brought by people like Keith Look Loy and Kendall Walkes while even the local Futsal Association sought legal redress against the TTFA.
Now, we have the somewhat rare scenario where the TTFA is the aggrieved party, what we lawyers call the Claimant. But, here’s the catch: the source of the grief seems to be FIFA!
Even those of our citizens who are not football fans know that something big is happening in the sport and, because of Covid-19, they know that it’s not on the field of play. FIFA, in short, has relied on its constitution, the FIFA Statutes, and effectively, is trying to storm the national stadium, grab the football, the nets, and the goalposts, and jump on a jet back to Switzerland. This is exactly what Madame Justice Gobin hoped would not happen when she gave her historic judgment a few weeks ago on August 13, 2020. There is still time to delay the flight back to Zurich, though, if the TTFA withdraws the current High Court action against its world governing body. The country is looking on.
Replaced by the now-controversial Normalisation Committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, the ousted TTFA president William Wallace has dug-in his heels and pretty much said: “Not so fast Mr Infantino.” The FIFA president, interestingly, is a lawyer by profession. Wallace, his former executive committee members, and their legal team have held their ground, stating that the TTFA was created by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (Incorporation) Act of 1982) and that national law supersedes football law.
FIFA, on the other hand, is invoking its statutes, firmly believing that it had every right to establish the Normalisation Committee as its constitution allows. Further, as a parent body, FIFA has said to its child, the TTFA: “You agreed to play by my rules since 1964 when I accepted you into my family. What are you complaining about now?”
Parent and child, sadly, have gone to court. Over 200 other children are watching to see if their tiny bold-faced sibling from the Caribbean will getaway. The infighting is complicated by the fact that they cannot agree on how to settle this dispute. They started in Switzerland, before the reputable Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but that did not go well because FIFA refused to pay its advance share of arbitration fees and the TTFA accused CAS of bias in favour of FIFA. We’ll see if that comes back to bite them, if the Court of Appeal decides that Justice Gobin got it wrong. Clarity may also be offered after the appeal on other related legal issues like judicial review, parliamentary supremacy, and the court’s inherent jurisdiction.
Once the TTFA decided to move away from CAS’ jurisdiction and served legal documents on FIFA to defend the claim on local shores, the temperature started to rise. FIFA Statutes essentially prohibit any member association from accessing ordinary courts of law. If there’s a dispute, you go to CAS, not to court. You could even approach a local arbitral body approved by the respective national football federation, but you simply do not go to court.
Justice Gobin disagreed. She effectively said to FIFA: “This is my country and my national federation, so I have jurisdiction to hear this case. It stays with me.”
FIFA will soon be making its response known. They are likely to say something like this: “No problem, my lady. This is your country. Well, guess what? This is my sport. If the players want to play my sport, then they play by my rules. If you don’t like it, fine. Start your own federation.” Perhaps this may not happen given the detailed appeal filed by FIFA. Who knows, but for now the score stands at TTFA: 1 FIFA: 0.
Come September 18, 2020, we will get a better idea as to whether FIFA has indeed taken the ball, nets, and posts back to Switzerland, together with the TTFA membership. It’s up to you to decide whether this is FIFA Fair Play or FIFA Fear Play. We’ll tell you what we think in Part Two.
—J Tyrone Marcus and Ricardo Williams serve as the current president and vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Association for Sport and Law.
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Membership wants to quiz Wallace at EGM.
By Keith Clement (Guardian).
The controversy and concerns are growing in the local football fraternity as FIFA's deadline of September 16 draws closer, the petitions gain momentum and the October 19 court date also nears, all relating to the United T&T Football Association (TTFA) team legal battle with FIFA, the world's governing body for the sport.
Guardian Media Sports has seen the five-page letter dated August 28 with the two petitions and the signatories, which is addressed to Robert Hadad, the chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC).
In the first instance, the delegates are asking the NC to convene a meeting under Article 29 of the TTFA constitution with two items with several subsections on the agenda.
The delegates want to recognise the NC as the executive body of the TTFA from March 17 and according to FIFA Statutes Article 8 and the second item, is to have the legal challenge against FIFA by the United TTFA team of being withdrawn forthwith. One petition also listed how the TTFA will be at a setback if the legal matter is not withdrawn.
Concerns have been raised in the football fraternity that the signatories on the petitions are not a true reflection of the membership and the delegates and that some clubs were not informed.
Among some of the clubs and delegates that have signed the petitions seen by Guardian Media Sports are - La Horquetta Rangers, Central FC, Police, San Juan Jabloteh, AC Port-of-Spain, W Connection, Morvant Caledonia FC, the Southern, Eastern and Central Football Associations, Eastern Counties Football Union, T&T Women's Football League (WoLF), the Futsal Association of T&T, T&T Beach Soccer Association and the Veterans Football Foundation.
Kieron Edwards, president of Eastern Football Association (EFA), one of the local football bodies that fall under the umbrella of the embattled TTFA, who delivered the petitions, said that there are people out there who are just making mischief because their egos are more important than T&T football and the future of T&T footballers.
He said, "All who are questioning the signatures on the petition should say whose signature they are challenging."
Guardian Media Sports has also seen a letter from Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC) which reads in part: "The club is asking the United TTFA to withdraw the action taken against FIFA with immediate effect."
Edwards said, "That the petitions represent the first aspect which is 34 signatures from member clubs, zones and affiliates and the other is for the calling of an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) which requires 51 per cent of the delegates. We have 25 signatures out of a maximum of 47 delegates. And we're still getting signatures.”
The petitions, according to Edwards, the chief campaigner, are to force former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, as well as Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford to drop their legal battle against FIFA here in T&T and go back to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which is based in Switzerland according to both FIFA Statutes and the TTFA constitution.
On August 26, general secretary of FIFA Fatma Samoura wrote Hadad, warning that TTFA would face sanctions if it did not withdraw the matter out of the T&T High Court by September 16, which is two days before FIFA holds its Congress.
Edwards said, "Football in T&T will be the big loser if the membership sits on the sidelines and not do anything before the September 16 deadline set by FIFA for the court matter to be withdrawn or faced sanction."
Edwards, speaking as the president of the East Zone and on behalf of other zones that supported the petition, pointed out that there are some clear takeaways that they are seeking to resolve from the meeting:
"1. That Mr William Wallace informs the TTFA membership why they took this route, the pros and cons of this course of action taken; 2. How do they intend to run football in T&T, if we are sanctioned or expelled?; 3. We would like to find out from Wallace and company if they know the step-by-step path to re-enter FIFA if we are sanctioned; 4. Will they accept the pathway to be reinstated into FIFA via normalization or does FIFA now need to make an exception for TTFA to not have to go through the normalisation in order to re-enter FIFA (seeing that they are unwilling to accept normalisation); 5. We would like to know the cost of the legal action being fought on behalf of the TTFA as persons have been mentioning that they are paying this cost out of pocket. Is this cost a loan or a gift to TTFA to fund this action? If it's a loan, what is the interest to be applied to the loan and who are the persons providing this loan and to what exact amount?"
Edwards said, "Most members that I have spoken to today (yesterday) on the matter of the meeting are expressing concern that Mr Look Loy is saying that he as well as other persons affiliated with him will not be attending the EGM. We are hoping that Mr Wallace and his team would attend the meeting and give the members the opportunity to have the much-needed dialogue for the future of T&T football.
"A no show by Mr Wallace and his team will be none other than a slap in the face to TTFA's membership as well as he will be jeopardising the democracy of the institution and constitution that he is claiming to defend and its sovereignty."
RELATED NEWS
EFATT: ‘A Wallace no-show for TTFA EGM would be slap in face of membership’
Wired868.com.
“[…] Most members that I have spoken to today on the matter of the meeting are expressing concern that Mr Keith Look Loy said that he as well as persons affiliated to him will not be attending the EGM.
“We are hoping that Mr [William] Wallace and his team would attend the meeting and give the members the opportunity to have the much needed dialogue for the future of Trinidad and Tobago football…”
The following Letter to the Editor on the Fifa/TTFA legal impasse and an upcoming EGM was submitted by Eastern Football Association (EFATT) president Kieron Edwards:
Speaking as the president of the East Zone and on behalf of other zones that supported the petition, there are some clear take aways that we seek to resolve from the meeting:
1. That Mr William Wallace inform the TTFA membership why they took this route, the pros and cons of this course of action taken;
2. How do they intend to run football in T&T if we are sanctioned or expelled;
3. We would like to find out from Mr William Wallace and company if they know the step by step path to re-enter Fifa if we are sanctioned;
4. Will they accept the pathway to be reinstated into Fifa via normalisation or does Fifa now need to make an exception for TTFA to not have to go through the normalisation in order to re-enter the Fifa fold—seeing that they are unwilling to accept normalisation;
5. We will like to know the cost of the legal action being fought on behalf of the TTFA as persons have been mentioning that they are paying this cost out of pocket. Is this cost a loan or a gift to TTFA to fund this action? If it’s a loan, what is the interest to be applied to the loan and who are the persons providing this loan and to what exact amount?
Most members that I have spoken to today on the matter of the meeting are expressing concern that Mr Keith Look Loy said that he as well as persons affiliated to him will not be attending the EGM.
We are hoping that Mr Wallace and his team would attend the meeting and give the members the opportunity to have the much needed dialogue for the future of Trinidad and Tobago football.
A no show by Mr Wallace and his team will be none other than a slap in the face to TTFA’s membership as well as he will be jeopardising the democracy of the institution and constitution that he is claiming to defend.
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Members defend their TTFA status.
By Keith Clement (Guardian).
...ECFU, VFOTT, Beach Football, SFA are members of TTFA
As the petitions for the September 15 Emergency General Meeting (EGM) gains momentum, questions are being asked about the status of some of the associations who have signed as members and as delegates.
The latest news from Kieron Edwards, president of Eastern Football Association (EFA) who delivered the petitions said yesterday, more members and delegates have signed on for the meeting to take place.
The FIFA deadline is just nine days away for the former T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his team which comprises vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, together with Keith Look Loy, the president of the T&T Super League and Anthony Harford, the president of the Northern Football Association (NFA), to drop their legal battle against FIFA here in T&T High court and go back to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which is based in Zurich, Switzerland, according to both FIFA Statutes and the TTFA constitution, or face sanctions.
In response to the petitioners called for the EGM, Look Loy, the former chairman of the TTFA technical committee, posted on his Facebook page recently that: "The fact is that, Beach, Futsal, ECFU (Eastern Counties Football Union), SFA and VFFOTT (Veterans Football Foundation of T&T) don't even have ten members among them. These are PAPER organisations that speak for people that hold office in them, but collectively have ten delegates among them. Jokes I ain't attending ANY meeting they called via a mocking pretender."
In response, one of the delegates for ECFU, Ian Prichard said, "I can state categorically that the ECFU is fully functional. As a matter of fact, we not only participated in the last TTFA election of November 24, 2019 but also had active competition as up to the 2019 football season."
He continued, "It is the belief of the ECFU Executive that the United TTFA should attend the meeting not merely to answer questions of the membership but to clear the air on any ambiguity surrounding pertinent national football issues that are unclear and in the public domain. We believe that it is important for the United TTFA to share with the membership the reason for their present course of action based on the fact that it seems to have been made on behalf of the association."
Pritchard, a former Ministry of Sports official added, "The greatest concern of the ECFU regarding possible FIFA sanctions is the negative consequences it may have on the young footballers in our region. Those young footballers from as far North as Toco and Environs and as far South East as Rio Claro that play this beautiful game who may not now be able to participate in any local, regional or international FIFA approved competitions.
"If these sanctions occur it definitely shatters the dreams of every young ECFU footballer striving to represent our region and those who may go on to represent our twin-island republic or desirous of making a career from football."
In the first instance, the delegates, some 30 of them to date out of a maximum of 47 delegates, were successful in having the Normalisation Committee which is headed by businessman Robert Hadad, convened a meeting under Article 29 of the TTFA constitution with two items with several subsections on the agenda.
The delegates want to recognise the Normalisation Committee as the executive body of the TTFA from March 17 and according to FIFA Statutes article 8 and the second item, is to have the legal challenge against FIFA by the United TTFA team to be withdrawn forthwith. The petition has listed how the TTFA will be at a setback if the legal matter is not withdrawn.
Lennox Sirjuesingh, a former FIFA referee and instructor and the public relations officer of VFFOTT, told Guardian Media Sports on Sunday: "VFFOTT has been a member of the TTFA in good standing since 2015, after advocating for a change of the Onemanism in governance and its members worked on the new TTFA constitution which was ratified on July 12, 2015."
He added, "The organisation has remained a member in good standing and had both its delegate and board member attend the last AGM held on November 24, 2019. Maybe the Look Loy-United TTFA expelled members from the TTFA. I know they have never held a general meeting of the membership since the AGM on November 24, 2019, not even to thank those who voted for them."
Checks by Guardian Media Sports through various sources stated that Beach Football, Futsal, the ECFU, the Southern FA and VFFOTT, all participated with full membership rights including the rights to vote at the 2019 TTFA annual general meeting (AGM ) election. Since then, there has been no question about their membership status nor has any meeting been called since to discuss such issues.
The TTFA constitution makes provisions for 49 delegates, however, at the last AGM, the Players Association and the Coaches Association were deemed non-functional.
With regards to the T&T Women's Football (WolF) support for the petition, Christine Rose, the organisation treasurer told Guardian Media Sports yesterday: "An emergency meeting was called by the president Susan Joseph-Warrick on Thursday and the outcome of this meeting resulted in the entire executive, inclusive of the president, voting unanimously against the TTFA to be banned by FIFA."
She said, "In our meeting, we further discussed the implications of the impasse between United TTFA and FIFA. We believe that the case should be withdrawn from the local court and moved to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We believe that United TTFA team should meet or attend the EGM which has been called by the membership. So that they can listen to the different views of their membership as well as give their views behind the impasse between United TTFA and FIFA."
"In my humble opinion, I am worried that TTFA could be facing sanctions/ban from FIFA. Such a decision can adversely affect the footballing population of T&T. It would crush the dreams of the young aspiring footballers as they will not be able to represent any national team at the various levels, as well as those aspiring to become professional footballers. Sports Tourism would also be affected because we would not be able to participate in any international football, whether it be friendly or competitive. Unfortunately, this can ultimately lead young people to a life of crime."
Meanwhile, among some of the clubs and delegates that have signed the petitions seen by Guardian Media Sports are - La Horquatta Rangers, Central FC, Police, San Juan Jabloteh, AC Port-of-Spain, W Connection, Morvant Caledonia FC, Club Sando, Defence Force, Queen's Park Cricket Club, the Southern, Eastern and Central Football Associations; ECFU; WolF; the Futsal Association of T&T; T&T Beach Soccer Association and the VFFOTT.
On August 26, general secretary of FIFA Fatma Samoura wrote Hadad, warning that TTFA would face sanctions if it did not withdraw the matter out of the T&T High Court by September 16, which is two days before FIFA holds its Congress.
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United TTFA not attending 'illegal' Sept 15 meeting.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
UNITED TT Football Association (TTFA) members, including former TTFA president William Wallace and spokesperson Keith Look Loy, will not attend an "illegal" September 15 extraordinary meeting called by TTFA membership, according to Keith Look Loy. The virtual meeting, convened by TTFA members and facilitated by the Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee, will address the United TTFA's court battle against FIFA and whether it should continue in the High Court. TTFA members will get the opportunity to vote on the matter via Zoom at 6 pm.
On March 17, FIFA removed former TTFA president Wallace and his executive from office (deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip) who were elected in November 2019. FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to run local football for two years, saying the decision was made because of the association’s financial woes and massive debt.
In April, the ousted executive made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, saying the decision was a breach of the TTFA’s constitution. However, Wallace and his team felt they would not get a “fair hearing” from CAS and appealed to the local High Court on May 18.
On August 13, Justice Carol Gobin said that the matter must be resolved in TT but days later, FIFA insisted that CAS was the sole authority to handle FIFA disputes with its member associations.
Look Loy, who is president of the TT Super League, told Newsday on Sunday that the United TTFA members will not be present at the meeting.
Look Loy said, "Under the constitution of the TTFA, which has not been suspended by anyone, the only body that could change or suspend the constitution of the TTFA is the general membership. The constitution is in effect and under the constitution, Hadad and his normalisation committee are not recognised...so he cannot call any meeting, that is an illegal meeting and I and other members of TTFA will not be attending that meeting."
Look Loy said attendance would legitimise the gathering.
"We are not going to, by way of our participation in that meeting, legitimise something that is illegal."
However, some members of the TTFA are grateful for the meeting to discuss the matter which has grave consequences for the TTFA. FIFA recently issued an ultimatum, giving the TTFA until September 16 to withdraw the matter from the local court or face expulsion from FIFA.
President of the Eastern Football Association Kieron Edwards said a meeting of TTFA members will clarify a way forward.
He said, "If they voted and said they don't want the court matter the only legal thing for the lawyers to do is pull the matter out of court, so we are hoping that decision is made on the 15th. Either we keeping it or we removing it (from court) and justice will prevail and good sense will prevail."
TTFA members who are hoping for the court matter to be stopped will need the majority of votes.
"That is the democracy that we are in based on our constitution and we need to follow the rule of law...and the democracy of the organisation that we serve," Edwards said.
TTFA board member Brent Sancho said it a foregone conclusion which way TTFA members will vote.
He said, "I think the decision by the membership has already been made. The request for the meeting clearly stated that the membership supported a resolution to stop the court proceedings by United TTFA. All of the members have maintained firstly, the United TTFA have never sought consultation of any of the membership and they have not even sought consultation by the most important stakeholders – the players and the coaches."
Sancho said fighting FIFA in court will destroy T&T football. "I strongly believe that if we are suspended or banned, that will be it. I think we will go into extinction simply because there is no one within the United TTFA could pay $50 million in debt, especially with FIFA not helping anymore and the Government saying that they not helping anymore. Where is the money going to come from?"
RELATED NEWS
TTFA members call EGM to ‘withdraw’ Fifa case; Look Loy vows to boycott ‘illegal event’
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting on 15 September for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) 47 member delegates, in the first significant response by local stakeholders to the impasse between the TTFA’s elected officers and Fifa.
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura vowed, last month, to initiate the process for sanctions against the TTFA, if besieged president William Wallace—who Fifa insists was replaced by its normalisation committee in March—does not withdraw a High Court case against his removal by 16 September.
On 13 August, High Court Judge Carol Gobin ruled that Wallace remains the recognised head of the TTFA and dismissed Fifa’s request for his case to be dismissed or moved to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Fifa is challenging Justice Gobin’s decision, with the appeal date set for 19 October. However, the global football body, headed by president Gianni Infantino, wants Wallace to fall on his own sword, despite the High Court ruling, and threatened action against the TTFA in the interim—even as the two bodies remain locked in court.
The EGM appears to be a last ditch effort by some local football delegates to convince Wallace to respect Infantino’s wishes.
The TTFA Constitution allows for members to suspend its president via an accord by two-thirds of its members at an EGM, convened by its board of directors. Fifa replaced the TTFA board with a normalisation committee in March, although it is a decision without legal effect outside of Zurich, Switzerland.
Either way, an EGM for the purpose of suspending or expelling the TTFA’s elected officers requires at least 30 days’ notice. So, members opposed to the court action decided to use the only option was available to them within the time frame.
“There is a specific time frame to remove a president using an EGM,” said Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards, “but with this course of action, a meeting can be held within 10 days.”
The delay in the request for an EGM, according to one football delegate, was supposedly due to a misunderstanding over what was at stake in the court case.
“The membership only had an issue when, after the court ruling they realised the matter could lead to the TTFA being banned,” said one delegate, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “[…] All the time William Wallace was saying the matter was between him and Fifa and he would stand the consequences; and now we are understanding it is the TTFA versus Fifa and it is the country that will stand the consequences.
“And that is when we [decided to] act.”
Nine of the 10 Pro League Clubs, the largest voting bloc within the TTFA, supported the EGM, with Point Fortin Civic as the only absentee. There was support from all three representatives from the EFA and Eastern Counties bodies too, along with the T&T Beach Soccer Association and Veterans Football Foundation.
However, there were no signatures from the Tobago Football Association (TFA), Northern Football Association (NFA), T&T Football Referees Association (TTFRA), Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), Primary Schools Association or TTAYSO.
From nine Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) delegates, there were three signatures: RSSR FC, Club Sando FC and QPCC.
TTSL president Keith Look Loy, who is a member of the United TTFA slate that successfully contested the last election and is behind the Fifa court case, said neither he nor his club, FC Santa Rosa, will attend an ‘illegal event’.
“Under the constitution of the TTFA, which has not been suspended, Hadad and the normalisation committee do not exist and Hadad has no authority to call any meeting in TTFA,” Look Loy told Wired868. “Moreover, they called on the normalisation committee to call a meeting to recognise the normalisation committee. Does that make sense?
“Additionally, at least one signatory to that petition was unauthorised. I speak for FC Santa Rosa when I say that the club will not legalise this illegal event by participating.”
Look Loy said he was informed that Christine Rose was not authorised to vote on behalf of WoLF, while QPCC’s signatory, Matthew Leach, did not understand what he signed. That was partially correct, at best.
WoLF president Susan Joseph-Warrick, who is a TTFA vice-president and party to the legal matter against Fifa, said Rose was authorised to sign on behalf of the body. However, she criticised Rose, the WoLF treasurer, for failing to ‘consult’ with her colleagues.
“We need to consult with our membership for serious matters like this,” said Joseph-Warrick. “And this is something I am hearing through the back door. As far as I know, this was not discussed at membership or executive level.”
Leach’s view is that QPCC does not consider itself to be against Wallace. However, the ‘Parkites’ are certainly against the risk of Fifa suspension.
“Queen’s Park’s only position is that we would like to discontinue any litigation against Fifa,” said Leach. “And if the only way is to have an EGM to facilitate a conversation with the United TTFA, then that is our course of action.”
Wired868 asked Look Loy if he would still boycott the EGM, if the signatures were deemed valid. He said he would.
“FC Santa Rosa and others who will speak for themselves will not attend this illegal event,” said Look Loy.
Wallace is keeping his own options open.
“I have no issue with membership exercising their right as per the constitution,” said Wallace. “Whether I attend or not would be decided in due course.”
On 27 August, Wallace failed to show at a stakeholders meeting chaired by Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe and, a day after the meeting, informed the Ministry of Sport that: ‘based on legal advice, unfortunately, it would be inappropriate for us to meet with the minister at this point in time to have any discussions pertaining to a matter presently before our honourable courts’.
It is uncertain whether Wallace would use the same reasoning to skip the EGM, although the court case carries obvious ramifications for the football body that he still heads; or how members will respond to his next move.
The TTFA Constitution lists the president as its ‘legal officer’, which allows Wallace—like his predecessors—to unilaterally represent the football body. However, it is a controversial clause that provoked ire when used by Wallace’s predecessors without the knowledge of the board.
Of course, Wallace and his team point out that, unlike previous administrations, they are not using TTFA funds for their battle which is simply about making a principled stance against their unjust removals.
Since the 15 September EGM cannot legally remove Wallace, the only hope from concerned stakeholders is that he can be swayed through moral persuasion, magnified by their numbers.
Edwards, who said a normalisation committee is long overdue in local football to ‘fix the wrongs’ of the past, said the onus ought to be on Wallace now to show what the TTFA has to gain from the legal fight with Fifa.
“They need to state what happens next if we are banned and they are in charge,” said Edwards. “How are coaches going to be paid? How is football going to be run? How are programmes going to happen?
“The normal entry back into football after you are banned is through a normalisation committee: will we accept one then?”
Ousted TTFA boss to avoid Sept 15 meeting.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
OUSTED TTFA (TT Football Association) president William Wallace has vowed not to participate in the September 15 EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting), called by the Robert Hadad-chaired normalisation committee.
This meeting will deal with the United TTFA’s court battle against FIFA and whether the legal issue should continue in the High Court.
Wallace and his executive (vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip) were removed by FIFA and replaced by the normalisation committee on March 17 due to the TTFA’s mounting debt of $50 million.
Wallace said, on Monday, “I definitely would not be participating in the meeting.”
According to the former president of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), “As far as I’m concerned, the meeting is unconstitutional. The very issue that we’re dealing with is before the courts, in terms of the normalisation committee and whether the normalisation committee has any locus standi.
“As far as we’re concerned, no,” he continued.
“So how can they invite us to a meeting? If I go to the meeting, I’m going to legitimise the whole process.
“If members need to have a discussion, then we can find another forum.”
Some members of the TTFA have said that Wallace should attend the meeting to state emphatically if he stands for a potential ban of TT football by FIFA if the matter is not withdrawn from the local court. he should withdraw his case against FIFA.
Wallace noted, “If my position is that I do not recognise the normalisation committee, and the court (ruling by Justice Carol Gobin) indicated that, to a partial extent, how can I be invited by that same committee that I’m challenging, to go to a meeting? I’m going to legitimise the meeting and his position, and that I would not do.”
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Firetruck FIFA, firetruck Hadad, Infantino mudder..... :cursing: :cursing: :flamethrower: :flamethrower:
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Downer: Why TTFA GS did not sign letter
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Why wasn't T&T Football Association's General Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan not asked to sign the letter of convocation for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), Osmond Downer, T&T's Football Association (TTFA) constitutional expert has asked in a letter addressed to the TTFA membership on Monday, as he sought to steer members on the right path, according to the TTFA constitution.
Downer said that he is not attempting to obstruct the convening of the EGM, but is rather trying to make sure that after a large amount of time and energy is spent to hold the meeting, that all decisions made are not declared null and void if it does not follow the constitution of the TTFA.
The petitions dated August 28 and addressed to Robert Hadad, the chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) are requesting that making - in the first instance, the delegates are asking the NC to convene a meeting under Article 29 of the TTFA constitution with two items with several subsections on the agenda.
The delegates want to recognise the NC as the executive body of the TTFA from March 17 and according to FIFA Statutes Article 8 and the second item, is to have former president William Wallace and his three vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, and associates Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford drop their legal challenge against FIFA forthwith. One petition also listed how the TTFA will be at a setback if the legal matter is not withdrawn.
The meeting has been set for September 15 and could be followed by a 10-day period in which the TTFA quartet can be removed, said Keiron Edwards, the chief campaigner of the petition.
Downer said: "My first question is: why was the Convocation letter for this EGM not signed by the duly constitutionally appointed General Secretary of the TTFA, as has always been the accepted practice for all General Meetings held for all the past many years?
As stated in my last letter to you of August 30, FIFA, in its letters of March 17th and 27th 2020, replaced only the Executive (Board of Directors) of the TTFA by the NC. FIFA did not suspend the Constitution of the TTFA. Neither did FIFA remove the General Secretary. In fact, as stated in my August 30th letter, I understand that FIFA, on the contrary, wrote the General Secretary, after the installation of the NC, requesting him to work with and cooperate with the NC. I understand, also, that in the recent installation of an NC in neighbouring Guyana, FIFA appointed Mr Richard Groden from T&T to be the Secretary to the Guyana NC. Could this be the reason why FIFA requested our GS to work with the NC as Secretary to the Committee?"
Groden was also general secretary under the TTFA's leadership of Oliver Camps and Special Adviser Jack Warner in the 1990s.
Contacted, Ramdhan said the only way an EGM can be called, according to the constitution, is for a request to be written to him to be convened.
According to Ramdhan, he has been serving a suspension by Hadad, a decision he (Ramdhan) described as illegal. "Due process was not followed before my suspension. According to the constitution, I have not been allowed to put forward my case. A committee was also to be set up to adjudicate on my matter, but none of this ever happened. Hadad simply sends me five questions to answer and then he decided that I am suspended," explained Ramdhan.
Downer said the membership should have been informed of Ramdhan's suspension.
Downer, who is also a former FIFA referee and school principal, sought to clarify who can vote and who cannot vote as delegates under the constitution, since concerns arose over the eligibility of the Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU) the Southern Football Association (SFA) and the Northern Football Association (NFA), all of which are still to have elections, as well as a member of the Women's Football League who signed the petition although she was not one of the two delegates.
"My reliable information is that only one of the Members of the TTFA has written to the TTFA Secretariat informing earlier this year about the change of Officers and Accredited Delegates to the General Meetings. That Member is the Eastern Football Association.
Article 29.2 of the TTFA Constitution requires that the persons who have signed the list requesting the EGM must be Accredited delegates to the General Meeting of the TTFA at the time the request letter was signed on or before September 3rd, 2020, 25 persons have signed the list requesting the EGM."
However, information reaching Guardian Media Limited from the NC on Monday is that "The EGM has been convened constitutionally and will take place on 15th September 2020. In our convocation, we invited Member delegates to reach out to us if they had any queries and a few have formally done so. We will be formally responding to them and clarifying any concerns they may have."
Meanwhile, delegates from the following members have signed the petitions - La Horquetta Rangers, Central FC, Police, San Juan Jabloteh, AC Port-of-Spain, W Connection, Morvant Caledonia FC, Club Sando, Defence Force, Queen's Park Cricket Club, the Southern, Eastern and Central Football Associations; ECFU; WolF; the Futsal Association of T&T; T&T Beach Soccer Association and the VFFOTT.
On August 26, general secretary of FIFA Fatma Samoura wrote Hadad, warning that TTFA would face sanctions if it did not withdraw the matter out of the T&T High Court by September 16, which is two days before FIFA holds its Congress.
RELATED NEWS
Members opposed: Sancho fires back at Downer’s ‘delegates’ claims.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
ACTING chairman of the TT Pro League and member of the TT Football Association (TTFA) Brent Sancho has fired back at TT Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer, who claims that decisions made at the September 15 EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) “may be declared null and void because of it not being convened in keeping with the constitution of the TTFA.”
Downer, in a media release issued on Monday, said, “Article 29.2 of the TTFA constitution requires that the persons who have signed the list requesting the EGM must be accredited delegates to the General Meeting of the TTFA at the time the request letter was signed on or before September 3.”
The TTFA last held a general meeting on November 24, 2019, during which William Wallace, leader of the United TTFA, defeated David John-Williams to become president of the TTFA. However, Wallace and his executive were removed by FIFA on March 17 due to the TTFA’s financial strife.
According to Downer, “based on the minutes of the 2019 AGM (Annual General Meeting), the named delegates remain the accredited delegates until they have been changed by their member associations in keeping with Article 22.3, and such changes must be communicated in writing to the secretariat of the TTFA.”
Downer said, “My information is that only one of the members of the TTFA has written to the TTFA secretariat informing earlier this year about the change of officers and accredited delegates to the general meetings. That member is the Eastern Football Association (EFA).”
In the letter requesting the EGM, there were changes for the delegates for Pro League clubs AC Port of Spain (Ryan Nunes replacing Michael Awai) and San Juan Jabloteh (Jerry Hospedales replacing Phillip Fraser) as well as Super League squad Club Sando (Derek Lange replacing Steve Gopeesingh).
Downer said, “Article 29 of the TTFA constitution is clear as to the protocol for requesting such an EGM: ‘if a majority (more than 50 per cent) of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting make such a request’. Who are ‘accredited delegates’? We see that there (is) a total of 47 delegates. So, at least 24 are required to request an EGM.”
Sancho remarked, “Why everything that Downer says is correct? He was very incorrect with the last statement he made as it relates to how the process works with regards to suspension (by FIFA to member associations), as was evident by (Caribbean Football Union president) Randy Harris.
“A suspension can still be meted out by the (FIFA) Bureau Council.”
Sancho, a former TT footballer and Minister of Sport, said, “Each member has to sign the compliance and over the course of the year, they can change their signatories.
“I find it strange that all these things are coming here to try to obstruct this meeting, which is sad.
“It clearly shows that the membership is not in support of the United TTFA. For (Downer) to continuously try to come up with these claims, it’s sad for a man who supposedly stands on solid ground.”
There may be cases where a delegate might die, or migrate, and Sancho responded, “exactly.”
Sancho said, “Any time of the year, you can write to the normalisation committee or the TTFA or whoever is in charge for that matter, and state the person who has the right to be the signatory. That’s normal practice.”
With regards to the issue between United TTFA and FIFA, Sancho said, “This is about the membership and the stakeholders of the sport. The players and the majority of the membership clearly don’t agree with the position that the United TTFA is taking. They said they were coming on transparency, accountability and working to suit T&T football.”
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Christine Rose: ‘The entire WoLF executive voted against Fifa ban…’
Wired868.com.
“[…] It was stated in the allegations that I failed to consult with my colleagues before signing on behalf of the body, and further, the matter was not discussed at membership or executive level.
“[…] This matter was in fact discussed with the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s League Football (TT WOLF) executives in an emergency meeting called by the president of the organisation, Mrs Susan Joseph-Warrick, on Thursday 27th August 2020 at 1.30pm…”
The following is a Letter to the Editor by Trinidad and Tobago Women’s League of Football (WoLF) treasurer Christine Rose, in response to an assertion by WoLF president Susan Joseph-Warrick that Rose did not consult with her colleagues before supporting the request for an EGM to discuss the current TTFA/Fifa imbroglio:
On Friday 4th September 2020, I noticed a post on Wired868 that featured my name with allegations attributed to me which were totally false. This is in reference to a post dealing with the subject of the ongoing impasse between United TTFA and FIFA.
Worst, no one from the online news source Wired868 thought it fit to ask me a question whether those allegations were true or not. Let me set the record straight.
It was stated in the allegations that I failed to consult with my colleagues before signing on behalf of the body, and further, the matter was not discussed at membership or executive level.
These are the facts.
This matter was in fact discussed with the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s League Football (TT WOLF) executives in an emergency meeting called by the president of the organisation, Mrs Susan Joseph-Warrick, on Thursday 27th August 2020 at 1.30pm.
The outcome of this meeting resulted in the entire executive, inclusive of the president Mrs Susan Joseph Warrick—all of whom unanimously voted against the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to be banned by Fifa.
Also, Mrs Joseph-Warrick, along with all our other executive members were present at the said meeting. Therefore, to throw me under the bus for the fault of others is unfair.
Editor’s Note: Wired868 notes that a WoLF vote ‘against the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) [being] banned by Fifa’ is not the same thing as supporting a call for an EGM. Thus far, Rose still has not offered any proof that she had the support of the WoLF executive or membership in signing up for an EGM.
On the substantive matter of whether Rose was authorised to sign for WoLF, Susan Joseph-Warrick said she was—which Wired868 published. We therefore reject outright any suggestion that there was an inaccuracy in our initial article.
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Dear editor: Fifa is bluffing; if it could suspend the TTFA, it would have done so already!
Wired868.com.
“[…] Normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad is being coached by Fifa, and his game is to get the the members of the TTFA into a meeting to justify his vote before the Fifa Congress (as part of the illusion), to suspend his fellow Trinidadians from the football at the behest of some unseen hand.
“The Fifa President, Council and emergency committee will have clean hands because a Trinidadian businessman with no experience in Fifa politics is eager to hold the bloody knife…”
The following is a Letter to the Editor from ‘Free Democracy’ on the legal impasse between Fifa and the elected officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA):
“Since the 15 September EGM cannot legally remove [William] Wallace,” according to Wired868’s latest report, “the only hope from concerned stakeholders is that he can be swayed through moral persuasion, magnified by their numbers.”
And pray tell, what morality is that?
Here’s the thing though: if the Fifa President, the Fifa Emergency Committee or even the Fifa Council could ban the TTFA in this case, they would have done it already. They don’t have the legal or moral authority to carry out injustice.
So their game is to posture and create the illusion that the members (national associations) of Fifa are willing to commit this injustice while their hands (the president and his council) are clean. Nice racket eh?
They need votes in the Fifa congress beforehand to carry out this bluff against Wallace and force him to give up his rights because Fifa can’t unilaterally suspend the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.
It’s just amazing to any onlooker that the Trinidadian government does not provide clarity in this situation. But ‘crabs and barrels’ are not unique to any particular nation, creed, race, political movement or class.
‘Politics has its own morality’.
Normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad is being coached by Fifa, and his game is to get the the members of the TTFA into a meeting to justify his vote before the Fifa Congress (as part of the illusion), to suspend his fellow Trinidadians from the football at the behest of some unseen hand.
The Fifa President, Council and emergency committee will have clean hands because a Trinidadian businessman with no experience in Fifa politics is eager to hold the bloody knife. Nice work if you can get it?
The other Caribbean football presidents are being used in the same way and maybe Caricom should have a say. Maybe that’s wishful thinking. Like I said: crabs and barrels…
This thing need a calypso; but it look like Wallace have to die first, or surrender his dignity, before his people can support him.
Mr Hadad, on the other hand, could spare both nation and region the trouble, with his resignation—because he is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago first. I think…
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What's up with ... Trinidad and Tobago's potential FIFA suspension?
By Jon Arnold (getconcacafed.substack.com)
Last month, I launched a monthly series called “What’s up with…” in which I invite an expert to explain how things are going in their country, with a situation or another topic in the area of expertise.
Lasana Liburd doesn’t want to be as much of an expert into federation drama as he is, but the long-time sportswriter in Trinidad and Tobago once again finds himself calling officials, covering court dates and, lately, trying to figure out of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is going to be suspended from FIFA.
That may happen because just months after William Wallace (yeah, freedom, lol, we’re going to have to get past that) defeated David John-Williams to become president of the TTFA, FIFA stepped in to say the federation was being financially mismanaged and named a ‘normalisation committee’ headed by Robert Hadad.
Lasana’s coverage at Wired868 is must-read for those looking to keep up with the situation daily, but I asked Lasana if he’d give us more of a macro-view of the situation and was thrilled he agreed to take his time to do so:
JA: Thanks for doing this, Lasana.
It's probably too broad of a question to simply say, "What's going on between FIFA and the TTFA" so let's go to the beginning. Tell us about the FA elections in November and why FIFA is saying it needed to get involved.
LL: If we start with the elections in November, one must note that six days before the elections (FIFA president Gianni) Infantino flew in to Trinidad to ‘open’ the Home of Football facility — although in fact the building was unfinished and uninsured for commercial use — and in that opening he praised the stewardship of incumbent president David John-Williams and described him as a ‘teammate’
The context there is, apart from arguably inserting himself into the election process of an autonomous body, Infantino, four months later, would point to the dire state of the local game as the reason for FIFA to interfere. But between his speech and the time of implementating the normalization committee, there was no separate audit statement or anything of the sort to make the new leadership culpable for the mess.
In fact, the new leadership proved that it was working to address lapses in the financial structure of the body. So how could Infantino praise the structure of the TTFA one minute and then shut down the identical structure four months later because someone else was at the head of it?
Now this is not to say the new leadership has not made its own errors. But the reason given by the bureau of the FIFA council for normalizing Trinidad and Tobago flies in the face of Infantino’s speech last November.
JA: So, just to make sure we have it straight: FIFA is saying 'The local game is in a bad state,' and the current TTFA president, William Wallace, is saying, 'Well, you have to give us time to fix it and we already started,'? Or is there more to the initial position on either side?
LL: There is a little more to it on both sides. But I think the starting position ought to be how does Infantino, as head of the bureau of the FIFA Council, justify ejecting the elected officers of the TTFA in March for a situation that was almost exactly the same the previous November when he was gushing in praise at the football body?
JA: Right, so let's move into some of the fallout. There have been lawsuits, threats, all sorts of things happening.
What's the latest on the case and, perhaps most critically, how likely do you think it is that FIFA would suspend Trinidad and Tobago?
LL: Well, only FIFA can know how serious they are about the threats. In terms of negotiating, Infantino has been abysmal.
His offer to Wallace is essentially, ‘Leave or we will victimize your entire nation’s football programme.’ So, who is the bad guy in that scenario? Some might say Wallace, but just as many would say Infantino.
And if Wallace does leave he is forgotten in a few months or just remembered as the guy who got the boot. So there is some upside to Wallace hanging on from a personal standpoint and almost none for him walking.
JA: It definitely seems like FIFA has been sort of 'all or nothing' in its position. And yet, it does have some defenders in Trinidad and Tobago, right?
I know Brent Sancho, who our audience will likely remember from his playing days and now is the Pro League chairman if I'm not mistaken, seems to support the normalization committee. Is that simply loyalty to the past administration or is there a larger faction of people in football in Trinidad and Tobago who do think Wallace should step aside?
LL: First of all, politics is about power and Sancho has been a politician for some time now. If any elected official is in trouble, there will be some whose first notion is: How can I benefit?
Sancho’s record in local football now is one of debt and false promises for his players and it’s really sad. Google: ‘Carlos Edwards’, ‘Sancho’ and ‘Wired868’ and see what his former World Cup teammate had to say. Most players here are kids trying hard to make a living and don’t have a voice like Edwards to carry their grievances. But he is facing legal action.
Now, there definitely ARE people who are not political opportunists who are also very concerned about what Wallace is doing. Footballers, and their parents, generally just want the game to play. And you have other football stakeholders who are worried about what the impact might be.
Those people generally think that Wallace is right and FIFA is wrong but believe (Wallace) should back down anyway because the price for the footballers is too great.
Infantino is banking on that faction pushing Wallace into stepping aside. It’s not like FIFA wants Trinidad and Tobago banned. Infantino was here just last November and he probably has made four or five visits here since he was elected. In fact, I think Infantino backed himself into a corner too but his sheer incompetence and lack of foresight. So now it is also a matter of pride.
JA: Is that what it's about for Infantino and FIFA? They've picked a fight and now they have to finish it? Like, they could point to the local court decision and say, 'Ah, our bad,' but it's gone too far for that?
LL: A high court judge has gave her reasoning as to why FIFA’s normalization clause contradicts its own statutes. Understand that it’s not only in violation of the TTFA constitution but FIFA’s statutes itself.
But then we should all be able to see that ourselves
The FIFA statutes say for a country to be suspended, two thirds of its 211 member nations must agree to do so. Right?
Now normalization is a similar action in that you remember a member association’s elected officers and board in one swoop. If FIFA statutes felt the removal of a member nation was so serious that over 150 member nations had to agree before it can be done, how is it that the Bureau of the FIFA Council, which is Infantino and six confederation representatives, can do it in one meeting?
What in FIFA statutes suggest that a decision that ought to be made by over 150 countries can somehow also be made by four people (which would be the majority in a seven member meeting)?
I think Infantino and FIFA need to address that. I also think that if Infantino cannot get the newly elected president of a functionally bankrupt football nation to sit across the table from him and take his advice on board, then he really doesn’t have the quality to run a billion dollar company like FIFA.
The disagreement with the TTFA never should have gotten this far. So now Infantino must choose between what his right for his organization long term, or pride.
JA: So, what’s the knock-on effect for the senior men's national team and the rest of the football teams in the country? Obviously a suspension would be disastrous but if it doesn't come to that, does this affect the Soca Warriors, the women’s national team and others or is it somewhat separate?
LL: The Soca Warriors have been in free fall for the last five years under David John-Williams, who is the president that Infantino wants for Trinidad and Tobago. Under DJW our debt rose from about $2.7 million USD to about $7 million, and the team went from 49th in the FIFA rankings to 104th.
FIFA was very happy with DJW and Infantino referred to him as his ‘teammate’ six days before the election last November. So he can’t pretend to be concerned about how well Trinidad and Tobago does as a nation. Nobody will buy that.
Wallace has absolutely cocked up his first set of business deals as TTFA president. Personally, there are very good reasons for him to be removed. But Trinidad and Tobago knows all about FIFA morality and all about FIFA’s meddling. So for many people, FIFA is the last one we want around trying to ‘help’.
After FIFA gave Jack Warner absolute authority over the Caribbean for close to three decades, all Trinidad wants now is a chance to build its own game without Zurich trying to manipulate things for its own interest.
JA: Seems totally fair to me. Hopefully the situation works out and the players and those growing the sport are the ones who truly benefit.
Thanks again to Lasana for his time. Make sure you follow him on social media and click over to his website to support his work on an important story in the region!
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Oops! Hadad blunder appears to rule TTFA EGM on Fifa court case as illegal.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad appears to have erred in his announcement of an extraordinary general meeting on 15 September, which was called to address possible Fifa sanctions against the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA)—due to an ongoing legal case by the TTFA’s elected officers.
Fifa gave TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA slate until 16 September to withdraw its court case and members responded by requesting an extraordinary general meeting, which aims to draw a line under the matter.
The problem, according to Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer—one of the framers of the TTFA’s Constitution—is that three from the 25 signatories on the list are not accredited delegates.
“Article 29.2 of the TTFA Constitution requires that the persons who have signed the list requesting the EGM must be accredited delegates to the General Meeting of the TTFA,” stated Downer, in a letter to Hadad that was copied to the media, “at the time the request letter was signed on or before 3 September 2020…”
The last TTFA general meeting was on 24 November 2019 and the only members to properly inform the local body of a change in delegates since then was the Eastern Football Association (EFA), which replaced Brian Joseph, Dharia Nelson-Seales and Clinton Lewis with Ansil Elcock, Charley David and Keyon Edwards.
However, in the letter requesting the EGM, the delegates for Pro League teams AC Port of Spain and San Juan Jabloteh as well as Super League outfit Club Sando FC were changed—with Ryan Nunes, Jerry Hospedales and Derek Lange replacing Michael Awai, Phillip Fraser and Steve Gopeesingh respectively.
It means Hadad’s petition had 22 proper signatures, when it needed at least 24.
The TTFA Constitution mandates that members need at least 10 days notice before an EGM can be called. So, even if the clubs fix the problem, they cannot hold the meeting until 18 September at the earliest—which is two days after the Fifa deadline.
Downer chided Hadad too on his failure to inform the TTFA’s member associations of the apparent suspension of general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan.
“Fifa did not suspend the constitution of the TTFA,” stated Downer. “Neither did Fifa remove the general secretary… The word is that the TTFA GS has been suspended by the chairman of the local NC.
“If this is true then the member associations of the TTFA—the real employers of the GS—most certainly, should have been informed of such a move and the reasons for such.”
Hadad, who is employed by Fifa and has never held a recognised role within the local game, supposedly told employees that he often leans on controversial former TTFA president David John-Williams and interim Pro League chairman Brent Sancho for counsel on football matters.
Last week, national football coaches were perplexed when normalisation committee members suggested that Fifa Forward money had to be used to meet some of the association’s long-standing debts, and there may not be enough left to cover their salaries.
Committee members also expressed surprise that the coaches’ contracts—Soca Warriors head coach Terry Fenwick approved—were all board approved with minutes to support it.
Coaches had to explain to Hadad and his colleagues, who included vice-chair Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano, that Fifa Forward money could only be used to cover operating costs, which included the salaries of coaches.
Downer suggested that Hadad’s ignorance of the constitution might have cost the normalisation committee its last chance to formally address the United TTFA’s court case before Fifa’s deadline.
Hadad, as usual, could not be reached for comment.
The following is the full statement from TTFRA vice-president Osmond Downer to normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, which was forwarded to the media:
I, as an accredited delegate to the general meeting of the TTFA, take this opportunity to accept the offer stated in the last sentence of the convocation letter for the [15 September] EGM, signed by Mr Robert Hadad, chairman of the normalisation committee (NC) instituted for the TTFA by Fifa, which invited any questions or comments from Members constituting the TTFA.
Let me make it clear from the start that I am not trying here to obstruct the convening of this EGM; but really to make sure that, after a large amount of time and energy is spent on holding this meeting, all decisions made at the meeting may not be declared null and void because of it not being convened in keeping with the constitution of the TTFA.
My first question is: why was the convocation letter for this EGM not signed by the duly constitutionally appointed general secretary of the TTFA—as has always been the accepted practice for all general meetings held for all the past very many years?
As stated in my last letter to you of 30 August, Fifa—in its letters of 17 and 27 March 2020—replaced only the executive (board of directors) of the TTFA by the NC.
Fifa did not suspend the constitution of the TTFA. Neither did Fifa remove the general secretary. In fact, as stated in my 30 August letter, I understand that Fifa, on the contrary, wrote the GS—after the installation of the NC—requesting him to work with and cooperate with the NC.
I understand also that, in the recent installation of a NC in neighbouring Guyana, Fifa appointed Mr Richard Groden from Trinidad and Tobago to be the secretary to the Guyana NC.
Could this be the reason why FIFA requested our GS to work with the NC as secretary to the committee?
The word is that the TTFA GS has been suspended by the chairman of the local NC. If this is true then the member associations of the TTFA—the real employers of the GS—most certainly, should have been informed of such a move and the reasons for such.
Now, for the request for the convening of the EGM. Article 29 of the TTFA Constitution is clear as to the protocol for requesting such an EGM: ‘… if a majority (more than 50%) of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting make such a request’.
Who are ‘accredited delegates’? We see that there are a total of 47 delegates. So, at least 24 are required to request an EGM.
Section 3 states ‘delegates must belong to the member that they represent and be appointed or elected by the appropriate body of that member’. No delegate appoints him or herself. (Note also ‘on an annual basis’.) The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the word delegate is ‘a person who represents others and acts according to their instructions’.
Usually the member associations of the TTFA select their delegates in time for the elective Annual General Meeting, where the members of the board of directors for the next four year term are selected.
These delegates usually remain appointed for the whole of the four year term, but delegates can be replaced for any general meeting convened during the four year term, with appropriate letters to the TTFA’s secretariat from their member associations.
Now, let us look at the situation concerning the EGM to be convened on September 15—[based on] the minutes of the 2019 AGM. The named delegates for this AGM were appointed for that elective AGM.
They remain the accredited delegates until they have been changed by their member associations in keeping with Article 22.3, and such changes must be communicated in writing in to the secretariat of the TTFA.
My reliable information is that only one of the members of the TTFA has written to the TTFA Secretariat informing earlier this year about the change of officers and accredited delegates to the general meetings. That member is the Eastern Football Association (EFATT).
Article 29.2 of the TTFA Constitution requires that the persons who have signed the list requesting the EGM must be accredited delegates to the General Meeting of the TTFA at the time the request letter was signed on or before 3 September 2020.
Twenty-five persons have signed the list requesting the EGM. My careful study of the list of persons who have requested the EGM in their letter of 3 September, and of the list of accredited delegates to the 2019 AGM, has revealed the following:
TTPL: For AC Port of Spain, Mr Ryan Nunes has replaced Mr Michael Awai; and for San Juan Jabloteh, Mr Jerry Hospedales has replaced Mr Phillip Fraser.
TTSL: For Club Sando FC, one Mr Lange has replaced Mr Steve Gopeesingh.
Finally, I would like to draw the attention of members to Article 14.4 of the constitution which states: ‘Members that do not participate in activities of TTFA (eg sporting activities) for two consecutive years shall automatically be suspended from voting at the General Meeting’.
Hoping that the above statements are treated with the seriousness that they deserve.
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Hadad: Changes to member delegates made in writing.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
Meeting legit
“It should be noted that at least three TTFA members communicated to the TTFA in writing, of changes to member delegates, prior to the TTFA Normalisation Committee receiving the request by the member delegates to convene the EGM.” This is according to Robert Hadad, chairman of FIFA-instituted Normalisation Committee.
Further, Hadad has concluded that these three members have legal standing and that the upcoming September 15 Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) Extraordinary Meeting (EGM) is legal. However, Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer had stated otherwise in a correspondence a few days ago.
Hadad’s written communication came in response to correspondences from Defence Force Football Club (Super League) manager Ryan Ottley and Downer, dated September 5 and 6, 2020. Downer had raised concerns about the legal standing of three delegates and their eligibility to vote at the EGM.
In addressing Ottley and Downer’s correspondences, Hadad also announced that eight Trinidad and Tobago Super League delegates eligible to vote next Tuesday, remain unchanged. Among those seeking the EGM were three members of the Super League.
“The eight member delegates of the Trinidad and Tobago Super League are elected on an annual basis and remain unchanged unless changes are officially communicated by the member. Member clubs of any particular member, who are not delegates, may observe the EGM, at the discretion of the General Meeting but will have no rights to debate or vote (Article 21 (3)).”
Earlier this week, Downer had concluded that without suspended TTFA General Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan’s signature, the EGM notice is invalid. However, Hadad also countered that as chairman of the Normalisation Committee, he had the authority to sanction the meeting, in the absence of Ramdhan. FIFA appointed Hadad as chairman of its Normalisation Committee after dissolving the TTFA executive, led by president William Wallace on March 17.
“We note that in accordance with the TTFA Constitution, the chairman of the TTFA Normalisation Committee, which now acts as the executive body of the TTFA, is vested with the authority to issue correspondence,” Hadad stated via correspondence. “The TTFA general secretary, Mr Ramesh Ramdhan, has been suspended pending an enquiry into the entry of several contracts by the TTFA. We wish to make it clear that we are not imputing any dishonest motive against the general secretary.”
“The general secretary has made a request that the matter be referred to mediation for a resolution to which request we have agreed. We do not wish to comment further on this matter at this time to preserve the integrity of the process and the reputations of all concerned.”
In requesting the EGM, TTFA members were reacting to an ultimatum from FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura, who has given the former TTFA executive a September 16 deadline to withdraw a court action it brought against FIFA—in contravention of the world body’s statutes which prohibit member associations from settling disputes in local courts.
Wallace and his three vice-presidents—known as United TTFA—have challenged the decision of FIFA to dissolve the four-month-old executive and install its own management committee.
Hadad claimed that he was acting in accordance with the TTFA constitution, after the majority of voting TTFA delegates requested to have an EGM to address concerns arising out of concern that T&T face an international football ban.
“In accordance with Article 29 (2) of the TTFA Constitution, a request to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was received from more than 50 per cent of the accredited TTFA Member Delegates. In reply, the TTFA Normalisation Committee issued convocation for an EGM to be held on Tuesday 15th September, 2020.”
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NFA clubs vote unanimously for EGM.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
The Northern Football Association (NFA) is not in support of T&T being sanctioned by the sport's world governing body, FIFA.
At a meeting of the association's membership which was done via zoom on Thursday night, the clubs appeared to have gone against their support for the United TTFA and its members - William Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Joseph Sam Phillip, Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford, by unanimously voting 10-0 to have an Emergency General Meeting (EGM), which is being called by the TTFA membership to stop the United TTFA from taking legal actions against FIFA.
The United TTFA is challenging the decision by FIFA to appoint a Normalisation Committee on March 17 to manage local football, a decision that came three months into the United TTFA's term in office, since their victory at the polls in November, last year.
If they are able to stop the court battle by the September 16 deadline, the date given by FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura in a release last week for the United TTFA to pull the matter out of the court system and abide by the FIFA Statutes of allowing the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland to settle the dispute between the parties, the TTFA will face sanctions or be suspended.
This means that the country will be prevented from participating at World Cup Qualifiers from youth to senior levels inclusive of Girls and Women's football, preventing the country from taking part at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and CFU tournaments, preventing local clubs from going beyond the boundaries of football in T&T, preventing local referees from being scheduled for tournaments outside of T&T and blocking all international friendly matches.
NFA secretary Rayshawn Mars said the executive, in the interest of democracy and fairness, consulted with its membership to make a decision on whether to support the United TTFA, of which their president Harford is a supporter or the EGM which will ensure that the country can continue to aspire for football greatness.
From the NFA's roster of 16 clubs in the Premier Division, 10 teams - St Francois Nationals, Cultural Roots United, Trendsetter Hawks, Belmont FC, Harvard, Cantaro United, Patna River Estate, Miscellaneous Laventille United, Frontline FC and Malvern - all voted to have the EGM. The other six teams - RSSR, Morvant Elements, Combine Forces, Seekers FC, Paramin FC and North Coast FC - did not tune in to the meeting, for unknown reasons.
Mars said the clubs all receive reminders a day before the meeting. Calls were made to Harford, yesterday but they went unanswered.
The meeting was initially carded for last week Mars stated but because it failed to have a quorum, it was set to go on as planned, regardless of the turnout, on Thursday.
Mars, a former footballer himself, explained that the clubs really voted for the country not to be banned, saying otherwise they believe the actions of FIFA to remove a democratically elected executive, was a wrong one.
With the support of the NFA, the membership may feel comfortable now, after claims they have already received more than 50 per cent support to demand an EGM, as well as remove the United TTFA, which requires 70 per cent support. Robert Hadad, chairman of the Normalisation Committee has already scheduled the EGM for September 15 which the membership is eagerly awaiting.
The United TTFA has already claimed a round-one victory when Justice Carol Gobin, ruled that the matter can be settled in T&T High Court, despite it being a violation of the FIFA Statutes. The matter is now set for a show-down in the Court of Appeal on October 19.
Despite the date for the appeal-hearing, Samoura on August 26 called on TTFA to ignore the court ruling and move the case to the CAS, saying: “As you are aware, FIFA is extremely concerned regarding the decision of the claim and the arguments used to dismiss FIFA’s application. In this context, we draw your attention to article 59 of the FIFA Statutes, which expressly contains the prohibition of recourse to ordinary courts of law unless specifically provided for. FIFA takes such a principle with the utmost seriousness and therefore considers that it is the responsibility of its member associations to ensure that this principle is implemented.
"We further wish to underline that the failure to meet these obligations may, according to article 14 para 4 of the FIFA Statutes, lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA Statutes, including a possible suspension.”
In spite of this, Wallace and his team remain grounded in their stance and will continue to seek redress.
Meanwhile, the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) was to meet on Thursday evening as well to decided on whether to support the United TTFA or the TTFA membership. However, the meeting was postponed as its members wanted to wait until viewing the CNC3's football exposé on former TTFA president David John-Williams before a decision could have been made. The report highlighted the alleged wrongdoings of John-Williams during his tenure at the head of local football.
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I amappaluaded by the treatment of individuals who have been deemed to be coaches of our national teams.
The appointed head of this normalization committee at the least could have respectfully given them an audience, outline the plans of their employment or retention. Of services and create a positive working relationship as oppose to locking them out.
Utter disrespect
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TTFA files injunction to stop EGM.
T&T Guardian Reports.
The attorneys for former president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace and his team have filed an injunction on Friday to stop Tuesday's Emergency General Meeting (EGM) by the sports' general membership from taking place.
The injunction filed with the Registrar of the High Court of Justice, comes two days after questions were raised about the legitimacy of the meeting by Osmond Downer, the T&T Football Referees Association (T&TFRA) vice president, who also worked on the TTFA amended constitution in 2015, and a day after Robert Hadad, the chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation committee (NC) which also comprise attorney Judy Daniel (deputy chairman) and former banker Nigel Romano (member), wrote to the membership informing them that the meeting is on and all concerns that were raised have been resolved.
Justice Carol Gobin, who ruled in the TTFA favour on August 13, that the T&T High Court can hear the former TTFA executive officers' appeal against the implementation of a NC, will hear the application during a Case Management conference on Monday.
In its application to the T&T High Court of Justice naming the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as the claimant and FIFA as the defendant, has asked the court for the following:
1) taking any further steps to convene and/or conduct any meeting, on the 15th September 2020 or any other date, which purports to be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Claimant;
2) instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner of fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings, except by way of lawful representations made by the Defendant’s duly appointed Attorneys-at-Law or other lawful intervention
3) making use of and/or publication of the Claimant’s Official Logo, Letterhead, and Stamp/Seal; and 2. That the Defendant do pay the costs of this Application.
The application has listed 20 grounds for the TTFA requests, while Williams has produced an affidavit with 20 documents which comprised among others, the membership signed petition letter dated August 28, the response from Hadad dated September 4, agreeing to convene the EGM on September 15 and the August 26 letter from general secretary of FIFA Fatma Samoura, addressed to Hadad, warning that TTFA would face sanctions if it did not withdraw the matter out of the T&T High Court by September 16.
Wallace is claiming that at item 12 of his affidavit that the stakeholders meeting which the Shamfa Cudjoe, the Ministry of Sports and Community Development called on August 28, he believed was attended by Hadad, and the previous TTFA President, David John-Williams as well as other persons, was to request and convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of the TTFA.
The affidavit gives a general account from the first day of FIFA's take over of T&TFA on March 17 with all relevant documents and email correspondences between parties.
Wallace and his three vice presidents Joseph Sam Phillip, Clynt Taylor and Susan Joseph-Warrick and associates Keith Look Loy, the president of the T&T Super League and Anthony Harford, the president of the Northern Football Association, have always resisted FIFA's decision to implement a Normalisation committee to manage the TTFA after it enforced Article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes which states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period.
The TTFA is represented by attorney Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones, while FIFA's legal team is Cherie Gopie and M. Hamel-Smith & Co.
RELATED NEWS
‘Contemptuous!’ Wallace asks High Court to stop EGM and ‘restrain’ Fifa’s normalisation committee
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace has asked the High Court to block the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee from holding an Extraordinary General Meeting on 15 September, as the two bodies continue to fight over the right to run the local game.
On 4 September, normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad announced that the ad hoc body would ‘convene’ an EGM, in keeping with the TTFA Constitution—after a request by 25 of the local football body’s 47 delegates. (There is some dispute whether three of the signatories were valid.)
The agenda of the meeting includes: ‘the recognition of the Fifa-installed normalisation committee’ and ‘consequences of initiating court matter against Fifa in local court’.
The member delegates’ request for an EGM came soon after Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura’s threat to ‘commence suspension proceedings’ against the TTFA, as a result of Wallace’s legal action against the the global body.
On 13 August, High Court Judge Carol Gobin ruled that Wallace and his vice-presidents can challenge Fifa’s attempt to remove them from their elected posts in the local courts. Fifa is appealing the decision.
Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, via their attorneys, contend that the actions of Fifa and its local agent, Hadad, since then, are ‘wholly improper and/or contemptuous’ of Justice Gobin’s ruling.
Wallace and his vice-presidents, whose actions are filed as the TTFA, are represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul of the New City Chambers.
Fifa is represented by attorneys Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie from M Hamel-Smith and Co.
Today, Wallace’s legal team asked the High Court for an interim injunction to prohibit Fifa and any of its agents and/or appointees, including the normalisation committee, from:
1. Taking any further steps to convene and/or conduct any meeting, on the 15th September 2020 or any other date, which purports to be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the TTFA;
2. Instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner of fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings, except by way of lawful representations made by Fifa’s duly appointed attorneys-at-law or other lawful intervention;
3. Making use of and/or publication of the TTFA’s official logo, letterhead, and stamp/seal.
Wallace, through an affidavit filed today, accused Fifa of trying to subvert the court.
“Notwithstanding the live proceedings before the High Court and the Court of Appeal,” stated Wallace, “Fifa has, since the ruling of the High Court on 13th August 2020, simultaneously sought to adopt and employ various unsavoury, collateral tactics seemingly aimed at subverting the adjudication of the [TTFA’s] claim before the Honourable Court.
“I am advised and I verily believe that Fifa’s conduct, since the Honourable Court’s ruling on 13th August 2020, amounts to a direct and/or indirect usurpation of the [TTFA’s] lawful authority and powers which form part of [TTFA’s] claim—yet to be fully ventilated and/or adjudicated upon, before the High Court of Justice.”
Wallace pointed to the ‘recalcitrance’ of Fifa’s public statements on 8 July and 20 July respectively, which stated that the Zurich-based body ‘will never, accept the jurisdiction of a local court in Trinidad and Tobago to decide on the legality of the appointment of the normalisation committee’; and ‘the only recognised path […] is CAS’.
“I am very concerned that if Fifa and/or its delegates and/or appointees are not restrained in the terms of this application,” stated Wallace’s application, “it will continue to take steps to: improperly and/or unlawfully interfere in the [TTFA’s] day-to-day management; misrepresent the [TTFA] through the improper and/or unlawful use of the [TTFA’s] official logo, letterhead and stamp/seal; misrepresent the [TTFA] by purporting to be acting pursuant to the [TTFA’s] powers and/or constitution; and take further steps to improperly undermine the [TTFA] proceeding with its claim before the Honourable Court.”
The TTFA’s claim noted that Hadad along with normalisation committee vice-chairperson July Daniel and ordinary member Nigel Romano, were served legal warnings of their conduct in relation to the convened AGM—but proceeded anyway.
Wallace also referenced ‘an unauthorised meeting […] convened and coordinated by the Ministry of Sport of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago’.
“Coming out of this meeting which, I am informed and I verily believe was attended by Mr Hadad, the Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe, and the previous TTFA President, Mr David John-Williams as well as other persons,” stated Wallace, “is a letter dated the 28th August 2020 addressed to the FIFA appointed Mr Hadad as chairman of the ‘normalisation committee’, which purports to be a request to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of the TTFA.”
Wallace repeated his previous claim that the Ministry of Sport’s invitation for him to attend the online meeting: ‘went to my junk mail’.
“Meetings of the TTFA and its affiliates are mandated by Article 17 of the constitution to take place free from external / third party influence,” stated Wallace. “This includes government involvement and/or pressure. Ironically, Article 15 of [Fifa’s Statutes] also prohibits political involvement in the operation of its members.”
Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe has made it clear that the government would drastically reduce funding to the TTFA if the local body is suspended by Fifa. However, it is uncertain if she or her ministry played any role in the call for an EGM.
Cudjoe not be reached for comment up to the time of publication.
According to article 29 of the TTFA Constitution, the board can call an EGM at any time while the board is also obliged to hold one at the written request of ‘a majority (more than 50%) of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting’.
The constitution further states that: ‘if an Extraordinary General Meeting is not convened within the indicated time, the delegates who requested it may convene the Extraordinary General Meeting themselves’.
Fifa insists that its normalisation committee has replaced the TTFA Board. However, if members insist on holding an EGM, they could feasibly redo their motion and, this time, send it to Wallace—as chairman of the TTFA board.
The TTFA president cannot lawfully refuse the will of the majority of the football body’s members. But the members cannot possibly convene such a meeting, in keeping with the time frame given by the constitution, before Fifa’s deadline for the withdrawal of the TTFA’s case from the High Court.
Ironically, Wallace’s request that the High Court block the normalisation committee from playing any role in the TTFA’s daily operations comes months after the Hadad-led party took control of the local body’s secretariat and offices.
At present, the normalisation committee is locked in talks with national football coaches regarding remuneration for contracts entered into by Wallace’s administration; and it has already paid staff salaries.
Thus far, there has been no comment from either Fifa or its normalisation committee to the football president’s latest legal manoeuvre.
Last night, CNC3 investigative journalist Mark Bassant did an hour long piece, which suggested that Fifa might have allowed—inadvertently or otherwise—former TTFA president David John-Williams to spirit away up to US$1.5 million in funding meant for the Couva Home of Football.
John-Williams’ behaviour might therefore have contributed significantly, in more ways than one, to Fifa’s attempt to remove Wallace, who was hell-bent on investigating the controversial venue.
Wallace is seeking to retain control of the local football body. And, today, he again complained to the High Court that Fifa is not fighting fair.
“Unfortunately, Fifa appears to have adopted an uncompromising posture and has resorted to a range of methods including direct threats of punitive action against the [TTFA] and/or the [TTFA’s] duly elected representatives,” stated Wallace’s affidavit, “to indirect and subversive tactics in the form of the Fifa’s Normalisation Committee’s improper efforts to convene an Extraordinary Ordinary Meeting in the name of the [TTFA].
“I believe that an injunction in the terms of this Application has become necessary to preserve the status quo, and most importantly to ensure that the instant claim can be determined meaningfully by the Honourable Court. If [Fifa] is not restrained, it has indicated an intention to attempt to unilaterally and improperly withdraw the claim from the Honourable Court.”
United TTFA wants court stop Sept 15 meeting
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).
Attorneys representing the ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) executive have filed an injunction in the TT High Court to stop the September 15 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of TTFA members which is being facilitated by the FIFA normalisation committee, headed by Robert Hadad.
This hearing is set for Monday.
The EGM has been adjudged “illegal” by the removed administration of president William Wallace and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, who are members of the United TTFA team that took over the helm of the TTFA at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November 2019.
However, the executive was removed by FIFA and replaced by the normalisation committee on March 17 owing to mounting TTFA debt and "a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity."
Wallace and his executive are challenging their removal.
The September 15 meeting was called to address United TTFA's contentious High Court battle against FIFA. The world governing body insists the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the sole body authorised to handle disputes between FIFA and Member Associations.
The injunction, which was filed on Friday, seeks to prohibit FIFA and/or the normalisation committee from “taking any further steps to convene and/or conduct any meeting, on September 15, 2020 or any other date, which purports to be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the claimant (TTFA).
United TTFA also responded to an August 26 FIFA letter to the normalisation committee instructing them to warn United TTFA that the local governing body would face disciplinary proceedings if it did not withdraw the claim against FIFA in the local court by September 16.
The injunction seeks to stop the “instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner of fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings, except by way of lawful representations made by the defendant’s (FIFA) duly appointed attorneys-at-law or other lawful intervention”.
It also seeks to stop the normalisation committee from “making use of and/or publication of the claimant’s official logo, letterhead and stamp/seal” but affirms the defendant “pay the costs of this application”.
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If you want to lead, you must read! Downer hits back at Sancho over TTFA EGM blunder.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Interim Pro League chairman Brent Sancho and former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams both received copies of the amended TTFA Constitution on 22 September 2019.
So too did AC Port of Spain directors Ryan Nunes and Michael Awai, the San Juan Jabloteh office and Club Sando FC owner Eddison Dean.
Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer shared an email thread, 12 months ago, when then general secretary Camara David informed the TTFA’s board of directors and membership of the latest constitutional amendments.
Yesterday, Downer wrote a letter to Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad which advised him that he might have erred in calling an Extraordinary General Meeting on the strength of three signatories who were not accredited delegates—in keeping with article 29.2 of the constitution.
Sancho, believed to be an informal advisor to Hadad along with John-Williams, responded in a Newsday article by insulting Downer.
“Why everything that Downer says is correct?” said Sancho. “[…] I find it strange that all these things are coming here to try to obstruct this meeting, which is sad.
“[…] For [Downer] to continuously try to come up with these claims, it’s sad for a man who supposedly stands on solid ground.”
Downer, a former St Augustine Secondary principal, said he was perplexed by Sancho’s response. The veteran administrator, one of the framers of the TTFA Constitution, said he was only trying to help—as he always does on such matters.
“I am not an obstructionist; they should have studied the damn constitution before they made their move!” Downer told Wired868. “All through the past years, people have consulted me by phone whenever they have a problem, and I gave my free advice.
“If they had asked me, I would have told them the correct approach. I have cleared up constitutional points in previous years for a quite a few members.”
Hadad’s apparent faux pas means the request for the TTFA’s 15 September EGM had 22 valid signatures, which is two shy of the figure needed to demand a meeting.
The timing is crucial as Hadad is mandated by Fifa to compel or coerce besieged TTFA president William Wallace to drop his High Court case, which seeks to block the normalisation committee from taking control of the local football body.
Fifa’s deadline for Wallace to do so, according to a missive by secretary general Fatma Samoura, is 16 September. If Hadad corrects the apparent error now, the minimum 10 day waiting period before an EGM can be called means a new date of 18 September.
Downer, contrary to Sancho’s inference, has every intention of attending the EGM. His only hope is that it could be a legitimate one.
Article 29.2 states: ‘The Board of Directors shall convene an Extraordinary General Meeting, if a majority (more than 50%) of the accredited delegates to the General Meeting make such a request in writing.’
Downer said the amendment was made because the Pro League had 12 clubs at the time but was allowed 10 delegates while the Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) had nearly two dozen teams with eight delegates.
Members felt clarity was needed to ensure the right persons were representing the respective bodies, and, to make the process simple, no deadline was given for the change of delegates.
San Juan Jabloteh, Club Sando FC and AC Port of Spain could have informed the TTFA’s secretariat of their change in delegates just seconds before they sent their request for the EGM, and it would have been deemed legal.
However, there is no record of them doing so and neither Hadad nor the movers of the motion picked up on the apparent error.
If Hadad, Sancho and company put pride before precision and don’t address the mistake, it could be a wasted exercise for the TTFA’s members.
“I am not trying to prevent a meeting,” said Downer. “I am wondering if Sancho and the others consulted the constitution before they made their move—such an important move. Because the constitution is clear and I always quote constitution.
“As I said in my letter, it would not be good to call a meeting, everyone devotes time and energy to the meeting, especially someone like me, and then to find out afterwards that all the discussions and decisions are null and void.
“[…] I for one will be glad if we have a proper meeting and I will appear and give my opinion… I wouldn’t mind a meeting, I am not stopping any meeting; but call it properly. That’s all.”
Regardless of the authenticity of the signatures, Wallace and fellow United TTFA member Keith Look Loy said they will not attend the EGM.
Wallace said the fact that the normalisation committee called the EGM makes it a non-starter for him. At present, Wallace is contesting the legitimacy of the Fifa-appointed committee in court and, Fifa apart, Hadad is not recognised as being in control of the local game by either the courts or the banks.
“Put simply we are before the court to challenge the status of the normalisation committee,” said Wallace, “so it is impossible for me to go to a meeting chaired by this same committee. All things considered, we will eventually organise a meeting with membership.”
Wired868 asked Wallace when he and his vice-presidents, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, plan to meet the TTFA membership.
“We as a team will have some discussions on the matter over the weekend,” said Wallace.
The TTFA Constitution says its board of directors are responsible for convening an EGM. The problem is Fifa claimed to have dismantled the board on 13 March and replaced it with the normalisation committee, but via a process that is not explicitly recognised in the constitution of the local body.
So how do members call a legal meeting in those conditions?
Article 29.2 hints at a solution: ‘If an Extraordinary General Meeting is not convened within the indicated time, the delegates who requested it may convene the Extraordinary General Meeting themselves. As a last resort, the members may request assistance from Fifa and Concacaf.’
It is uncertain whether Hadad or Sancho are aware of such.
In other football news today, Concacaf announced that the preliminary round of the Qatar 2020 World Cup has been postponed until the March 2021 Fifa international match window, due to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in some member nations.
The Soca Warriors were due to play Guyana on 8 October in their opening fixture, with both teams drawn in Group F alongside Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis and Bahamas. Only the winner will advance to the next stage.
Editor’s Note: Wired868 will upload the new version of the TTFA Constitution by Wednesday 9 September.
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CoP Griffith questions EGM injunction.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
LISTEN TO THE MEMBERS
United TTFA headed by William Wallace is aiming to stop tomorrow’s scheduled Emergency General Meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. But Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith is calling for what he describes as “good sense” to prevail.
Today, there is scheduled to be a hearing over the injunction filed by United TTFA to stop the EGM being conducted under the direction of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee. The meeting was set to take place just a day before the September 16 deadline established by the world governing body for Wallace and his executive to withdraw their challenge of the Normalisation Committee in the High Court.
In a statement yesterday, however, Commissioner Griffith said: “At a time when we are on the brink of possibly being blacklisted and banned from all International football as well as loss of all funding by FIFA, due to the decision by United TTFA to proceed via the local court in the present impasse, as I pleaded weeks ago, what is needed is not confrontation and battles in court, but dialogue and communication.”
And in particular, the CoP focused on the proposed EGM.
Saying he was pleased to hear of a “meeting with all 46 clubs to decide the direction and decision in this issue, which can make or break our football,” CoP Griffith added: “The administrators of football, be it the United TTFA, Normalisation Committee or whoever, simply represent them (membership) at boardroom meetings, and make decisions based on what they direct, and hence their views, via these delegates, should be the catalyst towards the direction of where this goes...United TTFA, Normalisation Committee or whoever, should be doing nothing other than adhere to the directive of these major stakeholders.”
He said he was disappointed to hear of the injunction, “to prevent these same members from having their views and voices heard via the planned Extraordinary General Meeting [EGM] on 15th September 2020, based on the premise that the Normalisation Committee should not have the authority to call such a meeting.”
Griffith declared: “We must serve to lead, and respect the wishes of the membership whereby over 30 of the 47 delegates have asked for such a meeting. To prevent calling such a meeting, or to delay it, can cause some to perceive that it is not the desire of those in authority to listen or adhere to the views of who they represent, and also a perception of a deliberate delay to ensure that 16th September passes...and the decision made to have us possibly suspended.”
The FIFA Congress is scheduled for Friday.
However, in stating its position last week, United TTFA remained steadfast. Via a release it stated in part: “United TTFA refuses to bow to FIFA and its discredited Normalisation Committee in its effort to remove the Wallace administration... “The chairman of the Normalisation Committee must resign immediately. FIFA must remove the Normalisation Committee and must recognise the elected TTFA officers. FIFA must begin talks with said officers to devise a joint approach to existing issues.”
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Wallace blocks FIFA body's meeting with TTFA clubs
By Derek Achong (T&T Guardian)
Former T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his team have secured an injunction blocking an extraordinary general meeting of the association's members, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
The injunction was granted by High Court Judge Carol Gobin on Monday as a lawsuit brought by Wallace and his team against FIFA, over their removal and replacement by a Normalisation Committee led by businessman Robert Hadad, came up for virtual hearing.
Presenting the injunction application, Wallace's lawyer Matthew Gayle claimed that the meeting, which was requisitioned by T&T Football Referees Association (T&TFRA) vice president Osmond Downer and facilitated by the committee, would have sought to challenge their authority to bring the claim and have it withdrawn.
Gayle suggested that under the TTFA's constitution, it was elected members such as Wallace and his team who were required to call the meeting upon requisition and that the committee, as FIFA delegates, could only act on it if they had not within 30 days.
Gayle suggested that the meeting was set before the deadline had elapsed and was seeking to usurp the functions of the court.
The application was not opposed by Senior Counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith, who led for FIFA and by extension the committee's legal team.
During the hearing, Hamel-Smith applied for a stay of the proceedings pending his client's appeal over Gobin's decision to refuse its bid to have the case dismissed over a lack of jurisdiction.
FIFA had claimed that by virtue of TTFA's membership with it and under the provisions of its constitution, it (TTFA) had agreed to forgo litigation in local courts in favour of proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which, like FIFA, is based in Switzerland.
Hamel-Smith noted that his client is maintaining its position and that by participating in the continued case before her, through filing a defence, may compromise it.
Gobin disagreed, as she noted her directions for the case to be determined expeditiously while the appeal was being pursued were not appealed and were still valid.
Gobin stated that FIFA would not be prejudiced, as any decision made by her in the case may be rendered null and void if the Court of Appeal disagrees with her ruling when it hears the appeal on October 21. She also questioned if FIFA was employing time-wasting tactics.
"Is it that your client is playing for extra time?" Gobin said.
In rejecting the application, Gobin extended the time for FIFA to file its defence to Friday, as it had missed its original deadline of September 4. She also set a tentative trial date of October 9 in the event the defence is not filed and a corresponding reply is not required.
RELATED NEWS
United TTFA gets injunction to stop Sept 15 meeting
Jada Loutoo (Newsday).
THE ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) executive has been granted an injunction to stop Tuesday’s extraordinary general meeting of TTFA members which is being facilitated by the FIFA normalisation committee, headed by businessman Robert Hadad.
Justice Carol Gobin on Monday granted the injunction which remains in place until an October 9 hearing of the challenge of the ousted TTFA executive, led by William Wallace, against the normalisation committee’s power over the local football.
Gobin also refused FIFA a stay of her previous order for it to file a defence in the matter filed by Wallace and his team. The world governing body was given until Friday to file its defence failing which the matter goes to trial on October 9.
An appeal of the judge's earlier ruling in August will be heard on October 21.
In its application for the injunction, Wallace and his deputies Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, who are members of the United TTFA team that took over the helm of the TTFA at its annual general meeting in November 2019 argued that the meeting which was scheduled for Tuesday, was “illegal.”
The TTFA executive was removed by FIFA and replaced by the normalisation committee on March 17 owing to mounting TTFA debt and "a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity."
Tuesday’s meeting was called to address United TTFA's contentious High Court battle against FIFA. The world governing body insists the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the sole body authorised to handle disputes between FIFA and member associations. FIFA gave TTFA a September 16 deadline to withdraw the matter from the local court of face suspension proceedings.
Wallace and his team are represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones while Senior Counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith and Jonathan Walker.
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WATCH: William Wallace accuses FIFA of bringing the Normalization Committee to cover up corruption.
https://www.youtube.com/v/bcb42HnJNFc
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Over-inflated egos in T&T football
By Alison C. Ayres (Guardian).
Dear Editor
As a proud Trinbagonian and equally proud product and former servant of football, I feel a profound sense of hurt and embarrassment by the extremely sad current state of affairs of the game in my homeland. This stems from the fact that we are being portrayed before the world and therefore, being perceived, as a people who are incapable of running our own football affairs both on and off the field.
Consequently, the door was being left wide open for not only the Terry Fenwicks and Peter Millers of the world to waltz right in, but more disturbingly, for FIFA to impose themselves upon us.
Based on reports, it seemed that Wallace and the United TTFA clearly lacked the football business acumen at the level required to deal with Fenwick and Company. So, what made them even entertain the thought that they would have been able to successfully rage a war against FIFA, the most powerful sport administration body in the world? Unfortunately, Wallace and the United TTFA, without very careful thought it appears, but seemingly overexcited about the prospects, bought into an ill-advised course of action to take on FIFA in a war that they never had a chance of winning.
Perhaps it was driven by over-inflated egos and “chest-beating” agendas? Apparently, because of their lack of the required expertise and know-how, Wallace and his United TTFA bought into what others were selling, as against being able to chart his and by extension the United TTFA’s own course, by getting down into the football trenches to do the extremely challenging work that is necessary to finally create the environment whereby local players, male and female from youth to senior level, who are the primary assets; I repeat, who are the primary assets of the Football Association, will be given the best opportunity to flourish and so too the local game?
So, while entering full of promise and promises, with the hopes of our football nation riding on said promises, Wallace and his United TTFA appears to have totally blown the opportunity to succeed, where all previous administrations have failed. And in the end, as history would attest, it is the players and by extension the local game that will continue to suffer; only this time around, with potentially more devastating effect than ever before.
Alison C. Ayres / New York USA
Retired Football Marketing & Management Professional
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Well Ms Ayers, I guess you've been hiding under a rock for the past 4 years. In light of the documentary that exposes the dealings of DJW and the blind eye turned by FIFA, this stand against FIFA is an ethical one.
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WATCH: Chairman of the TTFA Normalization Committee Robert Hadad and member Nigel Romano discuss the TTFA vs FIFA saga.
https://www.youtube.com/v/hoJhYUzb94k
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That reporter asked all the right questions. Hadad only trying to talk as if he ain't know anything. Romano did point fingers at DJW.
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CoP Griffith questions EGM injunction.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
LISTEN TO THE MEMBERS
United TTFA headed by William Wallace is aiming to stop tomorrow’s scheduled Emergency General Meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. But Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith is calling for what he describes as “good sense” to prevail.
Today, there is scheduled to be a hearing over the injunction filed by United TTFA to stop the EGM being conducted under the direction of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee. The meeting was set to take place just a day before the September 16 deadline established by the world governing body for Wallace and his executive to withdraw their challenge of the Normalisation Committee in the High Court.
In a statement yesterday, however, Commissioner Griffith said: “At a time when we are on the brink of possibly being blacklisted and banned from all International football as well as loss of all funding by FIFA, due to the decision by United TTFA to proceed via the local court in the present impasse, as I pleaded weeks ago, what is needed is not confrontation and battles in court, but dialogue and communication.”
And in particular, the CoP focused on the proposed EGM.
Saying he was pleased to hear of a “meeting with all 46 clubs to decide the direction and decision in this issue, which can make or break our football,” CoP Griffith added: “The administrators of football, be it the United TTFA, Normalisation Committee or whoever, simply represent them (membership) at boardroom meetings, and make decisions based on what they direct, and hence their views, via these delegates, should be the catalyst towards the direction of where this goes...United TTFA, Normalisation Committee or whoever, should be doing nothing other than adhere to the directive of these major stakeholders.”
He said he was disappointed to hear of the injunction, “to prevent these same members from having their views and voices heard via the planned Extraordinary General Meeting [EGM] on 15th September 2020, based on the premise that the Normalisation Committee should not have the authority to call such a meeting.”
Griffith declared: “We must serve to lead, and respect the wishes of the membership whereby over 30 of the 47 delegates have asked for such a meeting. To prevent calling such a meeting, or to delay it, can cause some to perceive that it is not the desire of those in authority to listen or adhere to the views of who they represent, and also a perception of a deliberate delay to ensure that 16th September passes...and the decision made to have us possibly suspended.”
The FIFA Congress is scheduled for Friday.
However, in stating its position last week, United TTFA remained steadfast. Via a release it stated in part: “United TTFA refuses to bow to FIFA and its discredited Normalisation Committee in its effort to remove the Wallace administration... “The chairman of the Normalisation Committee must resign immediately. FIFA must remove the Normalisation Committee and must recognise the elected TTFA officers. FIFA must begin talks with said officers to devise a joint approach to existing issues.”
There seems to be a need, within the media, to establish/distinguish when Gary Griffith is speaking in his public capacity and when his pronouncements are rendered as a private citizen, despite his role as a public figure.
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Sancho, Awai, Edwards — Game Over.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
It's 'Game Over' for the T&T Football Association and the country, said Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the T&T Pro League Brent Sancho, Keiron Edwards, president of the Eastern Football Association of T&T and Mike Awai, Business Development Officer at Pro League campaigners AC Port-of-Spain, following a court order yesterday by justice Carol Gobin, who granted an injunction to stop a planned Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that was called to stop the membership of the TTFA from stopping a legal battle between the United TTFA and the sport's world governing body - FIFA.
Wallace and his team, via their Attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones, in an application to the T&T High Court on Friday asked the court that:
(1) taking any further steps to convene and/or conduct any meeting, on the 15th September 2020 or any other date, which purports to be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Claimant;
(2) instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner of fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings, except by way of lawful representations made by the Defendant’s duly appointed Attorneys-at-Law or other lawful intervention: and
(3) making use of and/or publication of the Claimant’s Official Logo, Letterhead, and Stamp/Seal; and 2. That the Defendant do pay the costs of this Application.
FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura gave the William Wallace-led United TTFA until tomorrow (September 16) to drop the court battle or else face sanctions. She also called on the TTFA to recognise the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland as the jurisdiction to settle all FIFA disputes.
The United TTFA now appears to have won round two of its battle with the FIFA to remove a Normalisation Committee which was put in charge of T&T football in March. To date, Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, who were removed from office only three months after winning the TTFA elections in November last year, claimed round one after Justice Carol Gobin ruled that the local court can be used as the jurisdiction to settle the dispute between the parties, instead of the CAS, the legitimate jurisdiction according to the FIFA Statutes.
Both Awai and Sancho told Guardian Media Sports on Monday that the ruling means the TTFA and the country now face certain sanctions which will prevent the country from any FIFA-sanctioned football event, such as World Cup qualifiers or actual tournaments, CONCACAF Gold Cup, no Caribbean or CONCACAF World Club Championship etc.
"There is absolutely nothing that can be done before the September 16 deadline given by the FIFA now. It's game over for us. The United TTFA has finally succeeded in positioning the country to be banned, how ironic that the very court system that is used for justice, has deprived the country the right to have its teams play in tournaments," Sancho said.
According to the Central FC owner and managing director: "This injunction now makes the normalisation committee powerless, which means there will be no payment of salaries for the staff of the TTFA as well as the national teams' coaches. I wonder if Wallace and the United TTFA will now pay the coaches?."
Sancho believes the United TTFA is bent on ruining football in T&T, saying they have ignored a call by more than 50 per cent of the membership to put the country in a position where it will be banned. He called on Wallace, Keith Look Loy and company to say if they know about the FIFA Statutes before taking the action they have taken.
On Sunday, Clayton Morris, the speaker for the group of national teams' coaches, said he didn't believe any action of the court would have affected his coaches from being paid since a format for payment had already been worked out.
Following a meeting of his group on Saturday night, Morris said a decision was taken to stay the course and remain confident that, not only will they receive their salaries, but will also get new contracts and or new coaching appointments.
Awai said the decision of the court means the writing is on the wall that we will be banned. "If the normalisation committee cannot call a simple meeting then it is powerless."
Keiron Edwards, the EFA boss who initiated a petition to garner the majority support, is warning the public that they can look out for a ban by this week, saying football in this country will cease to take place because there will be no normalisation committee and no one to run football soon, despite the best efforts by the United TTFA to win a court matter against the FIFA.
After FIFA's deadline of September 16, the FIFA Congress will be held on Friday (September 18) and there are speculations that the sanctions on the TTFA can be handed down there.
RELATED NEWS
Judge Gobin stops TTFA membership meeting.
By Derek Achong (Guardian).
Former T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his team have secured an injunction blocking an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the association's members, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
The injunction was granted by High Court Judge Carol Gobin as a lawsuit, brought by Wallace and his team against FIFA over their removal and replacement by a Normalisation Committee led by businessman Robert Hadad, came up for virtual hearing on Monday.
Presenting the injunction application, Wallace's lawyer Matthew Gayle claimed that the meeting, which was requisitioned by T&TFA membership and facilitated by the committee, would have sought to challenge their authority to bring the claim and have it withdrawn.
He suggested that under the association's constitution, elected members such as Wallace and his team were required to call the meeting upon requisition and that the committee, as Fifa delegates, could only act on it if they had not within 30 days.
Gayle suggested that the meeting was set before the deadline had elapsed and was seeking to usurp the functions of the court.
The application was not opposed by Senior Counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith, who led FIFA's and by extension the committee's legal team.
During the hearing, Hamel-Smith applied for a stay of the proceedings pending his client's appeal over Gobin's decision to refuse its bid to have the case dismissed over a lack of jurisdiction.
FIFA had claimed that by virtue of TTFA's membership with it and under the provisions of its constitution, it (TTFA) had agreed to forgo litigation in local courts in favour of proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which like FIFA is based in Switzerland.
Hamel-Smith noted that his client is maintaining its position and that by participating in the continued case before her, through filing a defence, may compromise it.
Gobin disagreed as she noted her directions for the case to be determined expeditiously, while the appeal was being pursued, were not appealed and were still valid.
Gobin stated that FIFA would not be prejudiced as any decision made by her in the case may be rendered null and void if the Court of Appeal disagrees with her ruling, when it hears the appeal on October 21.
She also questioned if FIFA was employing time wasting tactics.
"Is it that your client is playing for extra time?" Gobin said.
In rejecting the application, Gobin extended the time for FIFA to file its defence to Friday as it had missed its original deadline of September 4.
She also set a tentative trial date of October 9, in the event that the defence is not filed and a corresponding reply is not required.
Through the local lawsuit, Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick are seeking a declaration that the decision to remove them on March 17, and replace them with a committee on March 27, comprising of Hadad, attorney Judy Daniel, and retired banker Nigel Romano was null, void, and of no legal or binding effect.
They are also seeking a permanent injunction barring FIFA from meddling in the TTFA's affairs by allegedly seeking to circumvent the democratic process by removing duly elected executive members.
Wallace and his team initially brought proceedings against FIFA in the CAS but were forced to withdraw as they could not pay the the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) in associated costs.
Their position was partly due to FIFA's policy to not pay its share of the fees and CAS's rules, which require the other party to pay the full costs when the other fails in its obligations.
Wallace and his colleagues are also being represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Crystal Paul, and Jason Jones, while Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie appeared alongside Hamel-Smith for FIFA.
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Well Ms Ayers, I guess you've been hiding under a rock for the past 4 years. In light of the documentary that exposes the dealings of DJW and the blind eye turned by FIFA, this stand against FIFA is an ethical one.
Mr. Ayers.
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Sancho, Awai, Edwards — Game Over.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
It's 'Game Over' for the T&T Football Association and the country, said Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the T&T Pro League Brent Sancho, Keiron Edwards, president of the Eastern Football Association of T&T and Mike Awai, Business Development Officer at Pro League campaigners AC Port-of-Spain, following a court order yesterday by justice Carol Gobin, who granted an injunction to stop a planned Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that was called to stop the membership of the TTFA from stopping a legal battle between the United TTFA and the sport's world governing body - FIFA.
Wallace and his team, via their Attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones, in an application to the T&T High Court on Friday asked the court that:
(1) taking any further steps to convene and/or conduct any meeting, on the 15th September 2020 or any other date, which purports to be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Claimant;
(2) instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner of fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings, except by way of lawful representations made by the Defendant’s duly appointed Attorneys-at-Law or other lawful intervention: and
(3) making use of and/or publication of the Claimant’s Official Logo, Letterhead, and Stamp/Seal; and 2. That the Defendant do pay the costs of this Application.
FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura gave the William Wallace-led United TTFA until tomorrow (September 16) to drop the court battle or else face sanctions. She also called on the TTFA to recognise the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland as the jurisdiction to settle all FIFA disputes.
The United TTFA now appears to have won round two of its battle with the FIFA to remove a Normalisation Committee which was put in charge of T&T football in March. To date, Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, who were removed from office only three months after winning the TTFA elections in November last year, claimed round one after Justice Carol Gobin ruled that the local court can be used as the jurisdiction to settle the dispute between the parties, instead of the CAS, the legitimate jurisdiction according to the FIFA Statutes.
Both Awai and Sancho told Guardian Media Sports on Monday that the ruling means the TTFA and the country now face certain sanctions which will prevent the country from any FIFA-sanctioned football event, such as World Cup qualifiers or actual tournaments, CONCACAF Gold Cup, no Caribbean or CONCACAF World Club Championship etc.
"There is absolutely nothing that can be done before the September 16 deadline given by the FIFA now. It's game over for us. The United TTFA has finally succeeded in positioning the country to be banned, how ironic that the very court system that is used for justice, has deprived the country the right to have its teams play in tournaments," Sancho said.
According to the Central FC owner and managing director: "This injunction now makes the normalisation committee powerless, which means there will be no payment of salaries for the staff of the TTFA as well as the national teams' coaches. I wonder if Wallace and the United TTFA will now pay the coaches?."
Sancho believes the United TTFA is bent on ruining football in T&T, saying they have ignored a call by more than 50 per cent of the membership to put the country in a position where it will be banned. He called on Wallace, Keith Look Loy and company to say if they know about the FIFA Statutes before taking the action they have taken.
On Sunday, Clayton Morris, the speaker for the group of national teams' coaches, said he didn't believe any action of the court would have affected his coaches from being paid since a format for payment had already been worked out.
Following a meeting of his group on Saturday night, Morris said a decision was taken to stay the course and remain confident that, not only will they receive their salaries, but will also get new contracts and or new coaching appointments.
Awai said the decision of the court means the writing is on the wall that we will be banned. "If the normalisation committee cannot call a simple meeting then it is powerless."
Keiron Edwards, the EFA boss who initiated a petition to garner the majority support, is warning the public that they can look out for a ban by this week, saying football in this country will cease to take place because there will be no normalisation committee and no one to run football soon, despite the best efforts by the United TTFA to win a court matter against the FIFA.
After FIFA's deadline of September 16, the FIFA Congress will be held on Friday (September 18) and there are speculations that the sanctions on the TTFA can be handed down there.
RELATED NEWS
...
For a variety of reasons, the capacity and responsibility to render payment to the coaches has rested with FIFA and the NC as FIFA's in-country agent. The injunctive relief obtained by United TTFA does not interfere with the status quo ante with respect to the architecture of delivering payments and the recognition of those contracts to be paid within that architecture of delivery.
Fundamentally, the matter of non-payment of the coaches has been a sword employed by FIFA to thwart or blunt United TTFA's efforts in opposition to FIFA. Gobin's neutering of the EGM/NC neither eliminates the capacity and responsibility to pay nor the agency relationship between the NC and FIFA/CONCACAF. Therefore, what Sancho asserts is bluster.
The weaponizing of non-payment was not a Wallace decision. The emotional appeal is not grounded in reality. Wallace has never had a personal responsibility to pay or to find money to pay staff/coaches.
Nonetheless, in my view there's a legitimate question as to why when other federations were shutting up shop and reducing their corps of coaches/obligations, the TTFA was unable to do the same and seemingly was blind to the prospect of force majeure in the context of how those contractual obligations were initially written or construed.
(I sense that there's an acceptable answer to this question, but it has been absent from the public domain. In light of the experiences being lived in football, this gap on the subject should be addressed).
Also, the notion of new coaching contracts is a fanciful notion. Not only is with whom would the coaches be in contract a live question, but also under what conditions ... recognizing that the future of how international football will proceed within CONCACAF is uncertain.
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I think Gary causing more problems. Is like he want to lock Wallace and Company.
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I watched the documentary on the Hof and the sportsmax interview with Bassant. Bassant suggested that there is more evidence about DJW and his dealings.
Wallace and Look Loy have a trump card. I suggested this before the documentary came out. More revelations are coming this week.
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WATCH: Wired868 editor Lasana Liburd discusses the state of Trinidad and Tobago’s football and a potential Fifa ban with TV6 Morning Edition host Fazeer Mohammed.
https://www.youtube.com/v/MVDOO0x_hOI
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Sancho: Dark day for democracy...chastises United TTFA as selfish bunch ignoring wider membership
By Mark Pouchet (T&T Express)
While besieged former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president William Wallace deferred to his lawyers to comment on Justice Carol Gobin’s decision to prohibit the hosting of an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) today, one of the TTFA members Brent Sanchoo described it as a “dark day for democracy in local football.”
In a virtual High Court hearing yesterday, Justice Gobin upheld the injunction filed by members of the United TTFA -- including Wallace, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick, Joseph Sam Phillip, Anthony Harford (Northern FA president) and Keith Look Loy (TT Super League president) -- to prevent the Normalisation Committee (NC) , headed by Robert Hadad, from hosting an Emergency General Meeting that was scheduled today.
“I can say that: It is now clear that the Honourable Madame Justice Gobin, having taken cognisance of all the circumstances and evidence before the Court, has made an order to, among other things, prohibit the purported normalisation committee from convening any meeting in the name of the TTFA. This means that the meeting which was initially carded for tomorrow, 15th September 2020 (today), purportedly in the name of the TTFA cannot lawfully go on,” said Jason Jones, one of the instructing attorneys for the United TTFA.
He added that Gobin had also prohibited the FIFA-instituted Normalisation Committee from using the official logo, letterhead and stamp of the TTFA and that Gobin had also amended the terms of the injunction to prohibit the defendant FIFA and its agents/servants from convening any meeting in the name of the TTFA, in specifying the names of NC chairman Robert Hadad and his two other directors, Nigel Romano and Judy Daniel.
Gobin also refused FIFA’s request for a stay while FIFA -- through their local counsel, SC Christopher Hamel-Smith -- appeal Gobin’s original ruling to proceed, the Justice giving FIFA until Friday to file a defence on the original United TTFA matter to contest the legitimacy of the Normalisation Committee. If FIFA fails to submit a defence by that deadline, the matter will proceed to trial on October 9.
In reaction to the ruling, Interim Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, said: “Well it’s the darkest day in our footballing history. We talk about democracy and the mere fact that it is the membership who called the meeting; a vast majority of the membership at that, called the meeting, yet this group of selfish men and women see it fit to block and not want to hear the membership.”
The timing of Justice Gobin’s decision essentially nullified the FIFA mandate for Hadad to compel or coerce Wallace and company to drop their High Court case.
Sancho, a former Minister of Sport, said United TTFA’s behaviour not to face and consult the membership and act dictatorially, while not surprising, was extremely ironic. “They have shown it from the very start that this has only been about them. They have shown that type of behaviour,” said Sancho, adding, “They have refused to meet with the membership and listen to the plight of not only the membership but the plight of players, administrators, the coaches who now will not be paid because of obvious reasons. Lord alone knows what they are trying to do and prove.”
Sancho opined he foresees sanctions in T&T’s football future as the FIFA deadline for the withdrawal of the case now seems set to expire tomorrow. He added that FIFA also doesn’t need to take the sanctions at the level of their Congress, but may also have the opportunity to impose sanctions at the FIFA Council level.
He said the TTFA membership petition which he claimed had been signed onto by 33 members as of the latest count, was articulated clearly that the majority of the membership wanted Wallace to cease the court action. “They have now left football which is not anybody’s own but the citizens of T&T and made a decision for 1.5 million people without consultation,” lamented Sancho.
“The overarching theme is that as much as whatever has been revealed as it relates to the former president (David John-Williams), we could point similar types of fingers to the regime that was replaced, namely Wallace and company, in terms of costing the TTFA some $14 million in unapproved contracts and decisions,” Sancho contended.
“They have made those poor decisions without authorisation. I am not surprised they have shown complete disregard to the Board, to the memberships, to people and to the players of T&T whose international careers will be ended abruptly,” he concluded.
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What about FIFA making a decision without any consultation :cursing:
What about the democratic election held in November? What about those rights? Eh Sancho?
Please
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Brent Sancho what's the urgency to be so damn vocal now , what's in it for you ? Let me remind you not too long ago , when DJW and his cronies were running football into the messy state its in today , you were not speaking with the same urgency and as loudly as you are at the moment , matter of fact your silence was deafening ! Yuh a damn hypocrite Brent sancho not to mention very self serving when it suit you! What's in it for you Brent Sancho ? Whose agenda are really pushing mister yellow belly ! You have shown your true colours once again
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What about FIFA making a decision without any consultation :cursing:
What about the democratic election held in November? What about those rights? Eh Sancho?
Please
Correct. It would have been a dark day for democracy and justice had there been no recognition by United TTFA of the need to make "polite inquiries". Even if one disagrees with the position of United TTFA, the use of language such as "selfish" to describe persons whose actions are grounded in pride and patriotism is unfortunate. There is not exclusively personal interest at stake here and now is the time for those fearsome of a ban to wrap their heads around a deeper notion of what the national interest is.
I do not regard Infantino as so blinkered as to be interested in contributing to destroying the game merely because he wants to plant his flag on the mountain top. Gianni, what would happen on the descent?
This entire exercise strikes me as having been useful and instructive for all parties. I don't think much has been lost given that we are in a pandemic, that major sporting events such as the Olympics are paused and that the present moment may be the best opportunity to remedy our maladies and wheel and come again.
Speaking of major sporting events, I noted that the runner-up of the US Open on the men's side earned US $1.5 million. For some reason that figure rings bells between New York City and Panama City. However, how that money made its way to the runner-up's pocket is known. What's not known is whether "amateurish golfing" or Mickey Mouse football administration is lucrative.
I see that Sancho is attributed by Mark Pouchet as stating regarding United TTFA: “They have now left football which is not anybody’s own but the citizens of T&T and made a decision for 1.5 million people without consultation". Brent, that's a buck per person. Strikes me as a fair rate for drilling down - in the national interest - to the core of this charade.
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"to the players of T&T whose international careers will be ended abruptly,"
So does that mean Garcia (Levi & Andre) et al(the few guys we have in a few low tier foreign leagues will all be released by their clubs ? And Will those clubs be re-imbursed by FIFA or to bad eg. AEK just lost a couple million pounds from their overweight bank account ? Does it also mean that the 1 or 2 guys who manage to acquire scholarships won't be able to go next FALL 2021 ? Does that mean no more Premiership or MLS contracts for ALL of our guys ? Does that mean we will be banned from playing football locally, training developing for the love of the sport ? Does that mean that we won't have to beg other countries for water and accommodation for our girls when they play, and bot male and female Players won't be able to travel home and away to get the amazing exposure that work so well to develop them in the past, especially during these pandemic times ? Or does it mean our boys can't make the big bucks they making right now in the pro league and they wouldn't now have to options of cancelling out of Concacaf tournaments as they had to in the past due to lack of funds ?
If item 1 dark days..but wait, Millions of International (Olympics and World) athletes, even amateur World, University athletes, presently seeing dark days, and just trying to survive. I guess we and our players need to join the real world and try to find strategies and possible solutions to live in this new world. Or we can just continue to fight down and criminalize each other just to lighten the load and ease the frustration. Government has to manage not give way.
Massa provides food and a roof for some of us, why some ppl must leave Massa and try to take care of ourselves, so what if he does us what he wants when he feel like it ? He treats some of us nice,nice, and likes us when we kiss ass equally nice.
I still waiting to see how Football (or any one thing for that matter )- even reaching the pinnacle of the sport, has served to have our country in a much better place than it was 30 years ago. I see more battles, more crime, more deaths, just as much if not more bitching and disunity than I have ver seen. Upper vs Lower, East vs West, Central vs South, Rasta vs Isis, PNM vs UNC , not as competition to foster development or improvemenrt it's more like spite and war. Unity is strength, well like all that wash way in oil and politics. 'If yuh not for meh, yuh against meh' rules the land. If we disagree, then you must be ah muddass crook, bandit and idiot, while I is ah blasted dog and whatever else makes me different, ah real c@#t.
I guess every country have some crazy issue, why we would be different. Well if the POTUS could lambaste, divide and still rule, who is ex-gov minister in a lil hole country, eh Sanch ? I to old to be able.
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FIFA deadline for Wallace's United TTFA.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
September 16, could mark a period that will go down in T&T's football history, and one that is likely to surpass any other achievement on the football field.
The country faces a decision by football's world governing body- FIFA, on whether the T&T Football Association (TTFA) will be suspended, as was stated in a letter on August 26 to Robert Hadad, the chairman of the Normalisation Committee, by FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura, if the legal challenge against FIFA in the T&T court was not withdrawn by today.
Angus Eve, the outspoken national Under-17 head coach said, "We must have been banned already.
"Considering the deadline given by the FIFA and how Wallace and the TTFA members have been moving, I don't think we will be spared, as Wallace and company will not be backing down. In fact, they have even won again in the court after Justice Carol Gobin granted an injunction to stop T&T's football membership from holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to stop the TTFA from fighting the FIFA in court over the implementation of a Normalisation Committee," Eve said.
However, Eve, using two of the world's popular freedom fighters Martin Luther King and Malcolm X to reference his point, said both men did not sacrifice the masses in their fights but rather themselves, noting that Wallace and his team should do the same and not sacrifice the people of T&T over a point they may want to prove.
According to Eve, the entire country and maybe the world, would agree that the manner in which the TTFA executive was ousted just three months after being fairly elected into office, was not right but then they should not suffer for that fight, saying that the country cannot look forward to FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, CONCACAF Gold Cup, play in the CONCACAF Nations League, referees will lose the opportunity to ply their trade abroad.
The TTFA was removed from office on March 17, after a FIFA/CONCACAF team determined that the TTFA's management flaws had put the sport on the verge of insolvency and illiquidity. But Wallace and company first took their fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland in May before moving to the High Court in T&T, later that month citing institutional bias at the CAS after being asked to pay the the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) in associated costs.
Since then, Justice Gobin ruled on August 13 that the matter can be heard in the T&T High Court and seven days later FIFA gave notice to appeal. Then on September 11, Wallace and his team filed an injunction asking the T&T court in its application to stop the Normalisation Committee from:
1. Taking any further steps to convene and/or conduct any meeting, on the September 15, 2020 or any other date, which purports to be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Claimant;
2. Instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner of fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings, except by way of lawful representations made by the Defendant’s duly appointed Attorneys-at-Law or other lawful intervention;
3. Making use of and/or publication of the Claimant’s official logo, letterhead, and stamp/seal; and 2. That the Defendant do pay the costs of this application.
The application has listed 20 grounds for the TTFA requests, while Williams has produced an affidavit with 20 documents which comprised among others, the membership signed petition letter dated August 28, the response from Hadad dated September 4, agreeing to convene the EGM on September 15 and the August 26 letter from FIFA general secretary Samoura, addressed to Hadad, warning that TTFA would face sanctions if it did not withdraw the matter out of the T&T High Court by today.
Judge Gobin granted Wallace and his team's request on Monday.
Eve, a former national captain, described the situation as unfortunate, noting that if the TTFA does not want to follow the FIFA rules now, then they never will.
"This could mean the TTFA could be thinking about starting its own footballing body with its own rules and potential members," said Eve.
Meanwhile, FIFA will hold its Congress on Friday and will have on its agenda, suspension and expulsion of Member Association. Eve said he did not want to predict what action, if any action, will be taken against T&T.
FIFA's decision to implement a Normalisation Committee to manage the TTFA after it enforced Article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes which states: "Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period."
The TTFA is represented by attorney Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones, while FIFA's legal team is Cherie Gopie and M. Hamel-Smith & Co.
RELATED NEWS
Deadline day for TTFA.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
AS THE threat looms of either a ban or a suspension from FIFA, the United TTFA team, led by ousted TTFA president William Wallace, is not backing down from FIFA’s suggestion that they withdraw their case, against the global governing body for football by today, September 16.
The United TTFA team of Wallace, his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, Northern Football Association (NFA) president Anthony Harford and Super League president Keith Look Loy are challenging FIFA’s decision, on March 17, to remove Wallace and his executive from office and install a normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, due to the TTFA’s mounting debt of $50 million.
On Monday, Justice Carol Gobin, in the Port of Spain High Court, granted an injunction to the United TTFA to stop Tuesday’s proposed Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), which was called by the normalisation committee to deal with United TTFA’s legal battle against FIFA.
FIFA, on August 26, gave the United TTFA a deadline of September 16 to withdraw their case from the High Court and have it heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or face disciplinary action (either a ban or suspension) at the FIFA Congress, which will take place virtually on Friday.
Wallace said on Tuesday, “Our position at this time, at 4.42 (pm) on the 15th remains the same. We are going forward with our matter.”
He continued, “After that expose (on the local media about the Home of Football project) which actually was the evidence that we lacked, our primary action was based on knowing that this whole thing (installing of the normalisation committee) was a cover-up. This has reinforced our position.”
There is a view that this impending decision could be detrimental to the T&T football hopefuls.
Wallace stated, “There is nothing to play for until 2021 March. That is the proposed (international) date that (Concacaf nations) may start back to play football because of covid19.
“They are talking about the youths being disenfranchised and all of that,” he continued. “One of the things that we’re overlooking is that domestic football can continue to play. Schools football can continue to play. The only thing what we’ll be banned from is FIFA-organised competitions.
“Where we are at the moment, over the last four years, if anyone can bring the evidence to me to show players going overseas or scholarships from clubs as against schools, if anyone can show me the real fall-out, let them show me. (Even) with this ban, players can still ply their trade. It doesn’t interfere with the individual players per se.”
Michael Awai, business development officer of Pro League club AC Port of Spain, and ex-national striker Ron La Forest, owner/coach of recently-formed Real West Fort United, are calling for United TTFA to withdraw from their legal battle against FIFA, for the good of T&T football.
“If they don’t withdraw, and the 18th comes upon us, either the Council or the Congress bans the TTFA,” said Awai. “If we are banned, I think we’re looking at between two to five years.
“On the good side, it gives an opportunity to clear the table and get a proper structure (for us) going forward,” Awai added. “The bad side is that we would not be playing international games.”
Awai pointed out that creditors will still be seeking monies owed from the TTFA.
“The possibility exists that one creditor, or creditors, can file for liquidation of the company, of the TTFA,” he said. “If that happens, nobody will get any money. I’m hoping that good sense will prevail. What we’re trying to do is save the football for the young players coming up.”
According to La Forest, “FIFA (is like) your daddy, and the way we were brought up, you obey your mother and father as you go along. If these people continue to fight FIFA, the young footballers of this country are going to suffer badly. (The Wallace) administration has no regards for the younger ones, (they) are looking at themselves.”
With regards to opting out of the legal challenge against FIFA, the former national Under-17 coach said, “Everybody’s saying that. There is something called common sense. I always tell my players they sell common sense in the drug stores.”
T&T bracing for international football ban.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
DEADLINE TIME
NORMALISATION COMMITTEE chairman Robert Hadad has strongly hinted that Trinidad and Tobago will be banned from international football and FIFA funding withdrawn, should United TTFA not comply with today’s deadline to cease High Court action against the Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
“We would continue speaking to FIFA when we get our chance and we will try our best to alleviate our suspension issue, but they (FIFA) did speak to a suspension...if the matter is not withdrawn by the 16th,” stated businessman Robert Hadad when he and banker Nigel Romano were guests on Monday’s version of 195FM’s ISports programme, hosted by Andre Baptiste.
With a ban, the TTFA will be left saddled with a $100 million debt. Hadad also surmised that with an international ban, the only way back into FIFA’s fold for T&T football would be through the Normalisation Committee.
“We remain here, in case TTFA will like FIFA to reinstate the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as a member associate and should they want that we are the ones that will report back to FIFA that we could perform our duties free of interference,” Hadad stated.
On August 28, FIFA general secretary Senegalese Fatma Samoura gave an ultimatum that TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA faction withdraw High Court action against world football’s governing body or face sanctions. Wallace is challenging FIFA’s decision to replace his fourth-month old executive with its own Normalisation Committee. FIFA statutes forbid member associations resolving disputes in local courts. FIFA insists that the matter be settled by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“We firmly request the TTFA to ask to the TTFA former leadership for an immediate withdrawal of the claim at the Trinidad and Tobago High Court by 16 September 2020, at the latest. We deem that a failure to comply with this directive would result in the commencement of suspension proceedings via the relevant FIFA bodies,” Samoura stated via email.
Monday’s injunction issued by Justice Carol Gobin allowed United TTFA to proceed with its High Court court action unhindered by an attempt from TTFA delegates to halt the court proceedings via an Extraordinary General Meeting. “No meeting about the TTFA can be held by the Normalisation Committee or any other person acting on behalf of the TTFA,” TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle stated following Monday’s legal proceedings. Gayle also indicated that United TTFA plans to press on with the case.
And given United TTFA’s position and the injunction preventing TTFA members from stopping its court action, Hadad felt a ban was coming --possibly as soon as Friday when FIFA holds it 70th Congress.
With a FIFA ban, Hadad stated power will revert to United TTFA and that no funding will be provided to the TTFA.
Career banker and National Four Mills chairman Romano estimated the TTFA’s debt was made worse in the four months United TTFA were in charge and now estimated it at $100 million, inclusive of $37 million to hotels, travel agencies; $18 million to coaches; $12 million in court orders; $2million to staff; $5m to Government for NIS and so on.
The debt was increased by unfavourable but legally-binding contracts to Peter Miller, Terry Fenwick and AVEC Sport. When United TTFA hurriedly fired Dennis Lawrence in January, it also left the Association having to pay both him and his English replacement Fenwick; as well as similarly fired coaches Stephan De Four and Stuart Charles Fevrier.
Without FIFA funding Hadad thinks that United TTFA cannot run football.
“We have been constantly trying to get away from these sanctions. As a Trinidadian that is not something I want to see,“ Hadad said. “Where are we going to get financing. Where are we going to get support. Who are we going to play against?”
He continued: “They will be faced with a lot of judgment. The debt, the way we see it, is upwards of $100 million.”
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https://www.tv6tnt.com/news/7pmnews/fifa-challenged-to-pay-ttfa-debt/article_c9bab5c4-f7bd-11ea-9f92-377a4927797a.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
Interesting development.
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United TTFA: Fifa and normalisation committee trying to cover up DJW’s ‘crimes’, govt must step in.
Wired868.com.
“[…] In all of this malfeasance, Fifa was either guilty of gross ignorance of its own regulations and, therefore, gross mismanagement; or it was guilty of gross negligence and complicity in the actions of David John-Williams.
“In any event, United TTFA concluded from the outset that Fifa imposed its normalisation committee to prevent the forensic investigation that had been ordered by the TTFA Board, and to cover up all of John-Williams’ financial shenanigans…”
In the following release, United TTFA members William Wallace (TTFA president), Clynt Taylor (TTFA 1st vice-president), Susan Joseph-Warrick (TTFA 2nd vice-president), Joseph Sam Phillip (TTFA 3rd vice-president), Anthony Harford (Northern FA president) and Keith Look Loy (TT Super League president) respond to Mark Bassant’s investigative feature on the stewardship of former football president David John-Williams and the alleged complicity of Fifa and its normalisation committee:
The unexpected, grave and shocking revelations of Mark Bassant’s investigative report, ‘TTFA’s Secret Panama Trail’, have not only confirmed what was already known by United TTFA and others, but have added new facts and allegations to the long file of financial mismanagement and malfeasance of the David John-Williams administration.
No one knew the full extent of the financial disaster provoked by the former president’s actions, but this was the central issue in TTFA under John-Williams. Ultimately, United TTFA, and others, acted on 24 November 2019 to remove the former president and his enablers from power, despite Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s open support for John-Williams.
The necessary assessment of TTFA finances in the immediate aftermath of our election victory brought facts to light that some wished to remain under cover of darkness. The revelation of these facts, some of them financial crimes under Trinidad and Tobago law, provoked an oppressive reaction by FIFA—the imposition of a so called normalisation committee on 17 March 2020.
On several occasions prior to the November 2019 election, United TTFA and TTFA Board members brought dubious practices in TTFA’s general financial management—and in the management of the Home of Football project, in particular—to the attention of FIFA’s head official for Africa and the Caribbean and project supervisor, Veron Mosengo-Omba, during his visits to Couva.
Mr Mosengo-Omba’s stock response was: ‘That is internal TTFA business. Fifa is satisfied’.
FIFA ‘was satisfied’ despite the fact that it conducts an annual audit of TTFA finances and despite the glaring contravention of its project management regulations. In all of this malfeasance, Fifa was either guilty of gross ignorance of its own regulations and, therefore, gross mismanagement; or it was guilty of gross negligence and complicity in the actions of David John-Williams.
In any event, United TTFA concluded from the outset that Fifa imposed its normalisation committee to prevent the forensic investigation that had been ordered by the TTFA Board, and to cover up all of John-Williams’ financial shenanigans.
In April, Fifa’s normalisation committee chairman, Robert Hadad, made it amply clear to the media he was ‘not here to play a blame game’—that is, to examine TTFA’s immediate past under John-Williams.
Since that time TTFA’s general secretary, Ramesh Ramdhan has stated that: 1) Hadad allegedly advised him that he knew he had been appointed to shield John-Williams; and 2) John-Williams is allegedly a key Hadad adviser who speaks with Hadad regularly.
During the 27 August 2020 meeting of selected TTFA members, hosted by the Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe, John-Williams featured and supported the normalisation committee. In that meeting Hadad claimed John-Williams ‘did nothing wrong’ during his tenure, and further, that one United TTFA member was ‘lying on him’.
In Bassant’s film national football icon and ESPN commentator Shaka Hislop described Hadad’s behaviour as a ‘dereliction of duty’.
United TTFA has long described the normalisation committee as illegal. That is the basis of our court case against FIFA.
However, given the long standing record of complaints by TTFA Board members against John-Williams’ financial mismanagement and malfeasance, and given Bassant’s film, Hadad’s stout defence of John-Williams clearly demonstrates the lack of independent judgment, integrity and credibility one would rightfully expect from a Fifa representative and from Fifa itself.
United TTFA refuses to bow to Fifa and its discredited normalisation committee in its effort to remove the Wallace administration, which is actually victim of John-Williams’ actions.
United TTFA refuses to allow FIFA to ‘normalise’ what the entire country saw laid bare by Bassant’s documentary.
United TTFA refuses to allow FIFA to continue turning a blind eye to the victimisation of our country’s youth and its football development.
‘TTFA’s Secret Panama Trail’ has amply demonstrated that Fifa has no moral authority to remove the Wallace administration, and that Fifa has many questions to answer itself.
In light of what is now in the public record regarding the past administration, the normalisation committee’s public support for John-Williams, and John-Williams’ alleged key role as advisor to said committee, United TTFA now calls for the following:
1. The chairman of the normalisation committee must resign immediately;
2. Fifa must remove the normalisation committee and must recognise the elected TTFA officers;
3. Fifa must begin talks with said officers to devise a joint approach to existing issues;
4. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe should approach Fifa in support of TTFA in this initiative;
5. The appropriate state authorities should access and examine Bassant’s documentary file on the Home of Football project.
These measures would immediately set the stage for resolution of all issues and facilitate the stabilisation and progress of Trinidad and Tobago football.
Finally, we call on our Caribbean brothers and sisters to unite in our support in this our gravest hour. It is the Caribbean that brought leadership change to Fifa once before. And it is the united Caribbean that can make Fifa a more humane organisation—one that is guided by global democracy, global equality, and global justice.
RELATED NEWS
Media Monitor: CNC’s Bassant to the rescue again; T&T football family sees big picture at last.
By Earl Best (Wired868).
Wired868’s Lasana Liburd is far and away the best football reporter in Trinidad and Tobago, arguably in the West Indies. So if any proof were needed that the current protracted TTFA vs FIFA issue is not about football, it came on CNC3 last night.
I am sure Liburd and Wired provided relevant footballing information but the television documentary was the work of investigative reporter Mark Bassant.'
Bassant has dared go where Liburd has not ventured precisely because the TV reporter is emphatically not in the football business. That’s more than can be said, the documentary makes clear, of former TTFA president David John-Williams.
For him, football is business, lucrative business.
Full disclosure: I am more than half-ready to deliver my verdict as juror in the David John-Williams case.
No lawyer—not even close—I am, however, very clear on the notion of presumption of innocence, both its legal underpinnings and its value in a court of law. I have found, though, that it has less value in the court of public opinion, which is where Bassant last night prosecuted the case.
I know to the last nuance the difference between an allegation and justiciable evidence, a charge and a conviction, a mere response, responsible or otherwise, and a real refutation. I have been, after all, in the business of teaching language all my adult life.
For more than ten of those adult years, I was a sports editor. That was back in the days when Jack Warner was first the TTFA’s Voice of One and then a big sawatee in Fifa. Ergo, I had plenty bullshit to cut through.
Bassant’s essential story is that DJW has been collecting TTFA money from Fifa, some of it in advance of its scheduled disbursement date. But he has been doing little of what the funds are specifically allocated to do: paying staff and creditors and servicing operational costs as well as building the Home of Football. Coaches, officials, players, contractors and service providers went continuously unpaid and authentic TTFA day-to-day needs were unmet. The House of Football is still unfinished.
And all the while, DJW played his credit cards very close to his chest.
“What do you prefer,” Bassant told us the then president asked rhetorically, “financial stability or wins on the field.”
“Neither came,” the investigator laconically commented.
However, as the organisation’s debts mounted, DJW was accumulating personal wealth—over a million US dollars—in a personal bank account in Panama, which it seems, was fraudulently set up using defunct, off-the-shelf companies.
As prosecutor, Bassant does an excellent job. The sheer wealth of information provided is quite impressive as is the attention to detail. An alert juror has no difficulty at all connecting the dots of dates, email and other addresses, flight information, customs documents, invoices, bank information and identification of FIFA connections, legitimate and shady. Not forgetting the concrete reality of the Home of Football.
Bassant tells the jury that: ‘Article 8D of Fifa’s Forward Development Programme regulations (…) states that associations may only use bonafide accounts to transact project business, (but) materials were paid for via RBC and Republic Bank accounts, when all three of TTFA’s accounts are at First Citizens’.
Fifa, he points out, deposited its funding into those First Citizens accounts.
He calls our attention to the suspicious purchase of two monomix machines. These machines were not on the customs form for the containers in which they were supposed to be but they ‘bizarrely appeared on the construction site of the Home of Football later on’, disappearing again in November 2019.
Contacted, the prosecutor tells us, a named official of ECOTEC, the supplier identified on the customs form, at first says that they do not sell that product. He would later change his tune. Too late!
Bassant cuts off John-Williams’ access to the knee-jerk defence of many an accused person: how can you be sure that it was me?
Dare he maintain that there are two people in the world, he asks, called David Apullnaris John-Williams? The chances are infinitesimal.
Bassant repeatedly opted for running footage of himself accompanying DJW on the golf course. I feel certain the ‘live’ footage moves the jury closer to making their minds up. The ex-president tries hard to make us believe he has only contempt for Bassant’s absurd investigation. But the sneer on his face, his embarrassed smile—if smile it can accurately be called—his equally embarrassed silences and his generally traitorous body language together convey an entirely different message.
But would mere commentary over more carefully selected images interspersed with well-placed sound-bites not have been more effective?
Maybe. Maybe not. Not in doubt is the verdict which has been reached in the court of public opinion. Already social media voices are calling for government intervention. One commentator has gone so far as to call for the resignation of the minister of sport, whom he sees as culpable since she publicly blamed the duly elected president, William Wallace.
My mind, though, remains only half open. I wait to hear the defence’s case but I’m convinced they have it all to do.
I see three real options: (1) A ‘plea deal’ (2) Turning State’s witness or (3) A win on a technicality.
In a corrupt country, of course, there is always a fourth. There is nothing Bassant can do about that.
I thought he did a splendid job on the sea bridge investigation in 2017. But there was no Covid-19 then, no closed borders.…
In November 1989, I was gutted when Warner off the field and Everald ‘Gally’ Cummings on its edge combined to cut the national World Cup qualification effort off at the knees.
Now, almost three decades later, even if we are not in a position to stop the recurrence, it looks to me as if we are certainly well placed to bring perpetrators to justice.
Thanks to Mark Bassant’s excellent, top-drawer, investigative work.
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That's right. It's up to the PNM to step in. I guarantee if the gov't does, this issue will get much more attention. As historically speaking, FIFA tends to think they are above the law.
All it's going to take is for DJW to get arrested, and FIFA's house of cards will crumble. Once that happens, Wallace might actually have a chance in front of the CAS. The CAS is not going to side with FIFA when there is conclusive evidence of FIFA trying to cover corruption by implementing the NC.
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Wallace: We considered giving up but Bassant changed our minds.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
FIFA Bureau of Council to meet today
Ousted T&T Football Association (TTFA) president, William Wallace and his executives, remained firm in light of Wednesday's deadline by football's world governing body - FIFA, to drop their court matter against it, or face sanctions.
Wallace, who instructed their Attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones last Friday to file an injunction to stop the TTFA's membership from holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Tuesday to prevent he and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick, from going ahead with their court case against FIFA and the recognised the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC), told Guardian Media Sports on Wednesday that his group seriously considered holding discussions to decide on how they should move forward in light of calls for them to stop.
"With calls from players and coaches, Minister of Sports Shamfa Cudjoe and many others, we considered holding discussions on whether we should move forward with our court matter, but when we saw the documentary by CNC3's reporter Mark Bassant (https://www.socawarriors.net/federation-news/23047-truth-about-the-home-of-football.html) on September 10, it confirmed some of what we had already known and informed us of what we didn't know.
"After that story, we found it hard to back down because we were now sure that the appointment of a Normalisation Committee was a cover-up for the corruption that took place under former president David John-Williams," Wallace said on Wednesday.
Whether Bassant is a hero or not, the football fraternity is preparing for FIFA to administer sanctions of T&T which qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2006 and was close to qualification in 1973 when they scored five goals and lost 2-0 to Haiti in Port-au-Prince, and in 1989 when the famous 'Strike Squad' was edged 1-0 by the United States at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain.
FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, in a letter on August 26 to Robert Hadad, the chairman of the NC which also comprise attorney Judy Daniel (deputy chairman) and retired banker Nigel Romano (member), warned if the TTFA didn't withdraw the matter from T&T's High court, the country faced being sanctioned.
FIFA also urged Wallace and his team to accept the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland as the jurisdiction for settling all FIFA-related disputes. The TTFA has been challenging a decision by the FIFA to replace them (TTFA) with a Normalisation Committee on March 17.
The TTFA decided to seek justice in the High Court in Port-of-Spain after being asked to pay the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) in associated costs. Wallace's team called CAS bias and withdrew the matter and filed in the T&T High court in May.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Council of the FIFA will today meet ahead of tomorrow's FIFA Congress in Switzerland, at which it is expected the ban will be handed down to T&T. The Bureau of the Council shall deal with all matters requiring immediate settlement between two meetings of the FIFA Council. The committee shall consist of the FIFA president and one member from each Confederation appointed by the FIFA Council and chosen from among its members, for four years.
Wallace said his group will issue a release soon to explain their position.
A ban on the TTFA will prevent all T&T football teams, from youth to senior levels and all match officials from participating in World Cup Qualifiers, from CONCACAF Gold Cup, from having its clubs pursue titles at the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) or CONCACAF Club Championships, among many other tournaments, while all FIFA-registered officials will be prevented for plying their trade outside of T&T.
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No evidence so far that the bureau council decided anything on T&T today. Read into that what you may
On to the full congress ::)
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No evidence so far that the bureau council decided anything on T&T today. Read into that what you may
On to the full congress ::)
https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/2020-fifa-congress-live-streaming
Scroll down and open the Agenda for tomorrow's congress. The fourth matter on the agenda is
" Suspension or expulsion of a member".
Maybe this is something that is always part of it.
If we are suspended, and DJW is charged, this case will be going in front of the CAS.
Anything FIFA does to TT at this point, is going to look as a retaliatory. Especially when the time comes for the handcuffs to be slapped on to DJW.
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No evidence so far that the bureau council decided anything on T&T today. Read into that what you may
On to the full congress ::)
https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/2020-fifa-congress-live-streaming
Scroll down and open the Agenda for tomorrow's congress. The fourth matter on the agenda is
" Suspension or expulsion of a member".
Maybe this is something that is always part of it.
If we are suspended, and DJW is charged, this case will be going in front of the CAS.
Anything FIFA does to TT at this point, is going to look as a retaliatory. Especially when the time comes for the handcuffs to be slapped on to DJW.
Yes indeed that is a standing item
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United TTFA ready to resume control.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Well-placed sources close to the T&T Football Association (TTFA) have said the group, despite being criticised in some circles of the local football fraternity and embraced in others, have revealed that the William Wallace-led United TTFA which won the TTFA elections in November 2019, is set to resume their mandate of managing the affairs of local football.
This, amid concerns that the TTFA and by extension T&T face the risk of being sanctioned by the sport's world governing body FIFA, for its failure to drop a court action challenging FIFA over the group's legal challenge of its removal on March 17, and replaced by a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) on March 27, to manage local football.
FIFA held its Bureau of Council Meeting on Thursday and is expected to levy sanctions against the TTFA, today at its Annual Congress in Switzerland for violation of the FIFA Statutes, which outlines that disputes are to be settled at the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
Embattled TTFA president Wallace said his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick, associates Keith Look Loy, the T&T Super League president and Anthony Harford, the Northern Football Association president, will stand firm on their stance to battle the FIFA in the court against injustice, despite not having the majority support from the sport's general membership.
Wallace believes the country has been divided in the matter but feels they will prevail.
However, on Wednesday, a member of the TTFA who wished to remain anonymous, said the TTFA is ready to resume all its negotiations with sponsors, as well as all the contracts they have entered into.
"We intend to secure sufficient sponsorships whereby we will not need the assistance of FIFA. Once we can accumulate enough funding then the FIFA will withhold its funds. I believe once the court rules in our favour as the legitimate administrators of the sport in T&T, then we will get the opportunity to put structures in place for the sport to be run effectively, we will develop the game and put the sport in a position where, when the ban is over, it will lead to a smooth transition back to the fold of the FIFA," the TTFA member said.
In the football association's short time in office, it entered into a $25 million deal with UK Sportswear company Avec Sports which was expected to outfit all the country's national teams, from youth to senior levels, as well as generate much-needed income to the country. The TTFA also formed a partnership with Caribbean Chemicals and Agencies Ltd, as well as a multi-million Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UK architectural company Lavender for the construction of a multipurpose facility on the Arima Velodrome, a deal that was scheduled to land the TTFA a whopping $12 million upon signing alone.
on Thursday, the official said his United group is still keen on revisiting those sponsorship deals as they are still open to them and will serve well in laying a solid foundation for local football.
However, a decision will have to be made in the court with the parties set to face the Appeal Court on October 21.
Up to Thursday, FIFA did not file a defence in the High Court action, after missing Monday's September 4 deadline. It is understood Justice Carol Gobin, who initially ruled in favour of the TTFA to have the matter heard in the local High court on August 13, as oppose to the CAS in Switzerland, gave FIFA until Friday to file its paperwork, or the matter will go to trial on October 9.
Justice Gobin also granted the TTFA its request for an injunction to stop an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) which was requested by more than 51 per cent of the TTFA membership, which was set to take place on Tuesday with an aim of voting for Wallace and his team to honour FIFA's directive and withdraw the court matter and to recognise the NC and the administrators of the sport. The request on August 26 was sent by FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura to NC chairman Robert Hadad.
In a letter on Wednesday, Wallace gave the assurance he and his team would drop the case if the court rules against them. He noted also that if the court rules in their favour, his first order of business will be to call an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss TTFA’s leadership, and the future and all contract matters that have arisen since March 2020.
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No word from FIFA on T&T's fate ahead of Congress
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
ROBERT Hadad, head of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, which replaced the William Wallace-led TT Football Association (TTFA) in March, is not sure if FIFA will decide today (Friday) whether or not they will suspend T&T from all FIFA-organised internationals and competitions.
Wallace is the head of the United TTFA team that successfully challenged for leadership of the TTFA in November 2019.
Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, are challenging FIFA’s decision, on March 17, to remove the TTFA executive from office and install a normalisation committee, led by Hadad, to the TTFA’s debt of $50 million.
FIFA, on August 26, gave the United TTFA a deadline of September 16 to withdraw their case from the High Court and have it heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or face disciplinary action (either a ban or suspension) at the FIFA Congress, which will take place virtually on Friday.
Wallace, on Tuesday, was adamant that the United TTFA was not backing down from their legal battle against FIFA.
Asked on Thursday, if he was aware of any decisions made during a FIFA Council meeting earlier in the day, Hadad replied, “I have not heard anything. I know (on Friday) we have the Congress. I really don’t know more than that.”
The Congress will begin at 9 am (TT time).
“The problem is I don’t know what’s going on and I’m in much as in the dark as you are,” Hadad added.
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Ban or not? Look Loy, Downer don’t see FIFA action today
T&T Express
Will Trinidad and Tobago be suspended from world football today? United TTFA spokesman Keith Look Loy has his doubts, and so does a local football constitution expert.
Today the 70th Congress of world governing body FIFA will be held, where in theory, two-thirds of the 214 delegates can agree to a ban or suspension of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association because of the current High Court action being undertaken by sidelined president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents, going under the United TTFA banner.
However, Keith Look Loy, chairman of the TTFA’s technical committee before FIFA instituted a Normalisation Committee on March 17, and part of the United TTFA group, does not believe that a ban will come today.
“I personally do not expect anything to happen at the Congress,” he said on TV6’s Morning Edition programme yesterday.
Giving weight to Look Loy’s contention is the absence of the matter of the TTFA’s suspension on the agenda of the FIFA Congress or the FIFA Council, which met yesterday.
Vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Referees Association and one of the framers of the TTFA’s revised constitution in 2015, Osmond Downer, told the Express yesterday that delegates going to the Congress must be informed beforehand of any matter to be discussed. He said while the matter of suspensions is a mandatory item on the agenda, the TTFA matter is not specifically there.
In addition, Downer said the TTFA issue was also not discussed at the meeting of the FIFA Council, which met yesterday. Explaining that the Council can put to the Congress any motion for expulsion or suspension, he said: “I saw the agenda for the Council meeting and it has on it ratification of matters coming from the Bureau. But there is no item regarding suspension for Trinidad and Tobago.”
The Bureau comprises president Gianni Infantino and the presidents of FIFA’s six confederations, which met within the last week.
Downer added: “Following normal procedure it (a suspension for the TTFA) would not be a matter to be discussed by the Congress because such a matter would have to be brought to the Congress by the Council. So unless some irregular way is found to bring it to the Congress for discussion, it will not be discussed, because the Council is not discussing it today (yesterday).”
Wallace and his United TTFA had been given until Wednesday by FIFA to withdraw its legal action in the High Court or face the possibility of a suspension or ban.
United TTFA has not withdrawn its case and on Monday was granted an injunction by Justice Carol Gobin which prevented the Normalisation Committee from sanctioning an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) that could have seen the TTFA delegates instructing the group to stop its action. And yesterday, Look Loy remained steadfast despite the ban threat.
Look Loy reasoned that even in the event of a ban: “In the real world of Covid, there is no football to be played until the second quarter of next year... There is no domestic football for the rest of this year... Concacaf has already put off all qualifying and international play until March of 2021. There is no football for the next six months. No boy or girl is going to get a scholarship to the United States until August of next year, that’s almost a year from now, so I’m saying if we are sanctioned, in the real world, what are we going to miss?”
He added: “This case is going to be settled within that period or long before... the end of that period. If the matter goes the way of FIFA, we have said publicly, then we walk away. I personally have no interest in pursuing this to the Privy Council and Appeal Court and all of that. If Justice Gobin decides in favour of FIFA, we walk away.
“If she decides that the Wallace administration is the legitimate administration then we address it, bring the membership together and we begin to deal with the solution together... I repeat, Trinidad and Tobago football is going to be missing nothing under a suspension until April of next year.”
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AGENDA ITEM NO. 4 (https://twitter.com/fifamedia/status/1306945952390017026)
#FIFACongress confirms that no member associations are suspended. All 211 member associations are present and eligible to vote at the 70th FIFA Congress.
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AGENDA ITEM NO. 4 (https://twitter.com/fifamedia/status/1306945952390017026)
#FIFACongress confirms that no member associations are suspended. All 211 member associations are present and eligible to vote at the 70th FIFA Congress.
:rotfl:
Let me hear Sancho and dem now
FIFA President declares the 70th #FIFACongress CLOSED.
The 71st #FIFACongress is scheduled to take place in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan .
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TTFA escapes FIFA sanction for now
By Mark Bassant (T&T Guardian)
No FIFA ban for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, at least for the time being.
When the 70th FIFA Congress convened at nine o'clock Friday morning, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said there was nothing to address under the agenda of expulsion and suspensions and moved on. This announcement came at approximately 9.17 am.
It put to rest concerns for many months that Trinidad and Tobago would be banned by FIFA following the court action taken by the ousted United TTFA executive led by William Wallace earlier this year - after they were given the boot and a FIFA Normalisation Committee implemented in March, headed by Robert Hadad, to oversee a restructuring of the association.
Well placed football insiders told Guardian Media earlier this morning that FIFA may only contemplate their next move after the October 9 court matter in Trinidad and Tobago
Wallace’s team refused to drop the local court action challenging the FIFA decision to send in the Normalisation Team by the deadline of Wednesday of this week given to them by the world governing body for the sport. This had prompted concerns that the TTFA could face a ban.
Addressing FIFA’s non-action during Friday’s congress, however, Wallace said the matter was far from over.
”We knew that Trinidad and Tobago was not on the agenda, but of course persons with their various agendas made public statements to the contrary. The matter is far from over and the ball is still in FIFA's court to act as they deem fit after the congress.” - With reporting by Gyasi Merrique.
RELATED NEWS
Look Loy, Downer don’t see FIFA action today
By Ian Prescott (Express).
Ban or not?
Will Trinidad and Tobago be suspended from world football today? United TTFA spokesman Keith Look Loy has his doubts, and so does a local football constitution expert.
Today the 70th Congress of world governing body FIFA will be held, where in theory, two-thirds of the 214 delegates can agree to a ban or suspension of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association because of the current High Court action being undertaken by sidelined president William Wallace and his three vice-presidents, going under the United TTFA banner.
However, Keith Look Loy, chairman of the TTFA’s technical committee before FIFA instituted a Normalisation Committee on March 17, and part of the United TTFA group, does not believe that a ban will come today.
“I personally do not expect anything to happen at the Congress,” he said on TV6’s Morning Edition programme yesterday.
Giving weight to Look Loy’s contention is the absence of the matter of the TTFA’s suspension on the agenda of the FIFA Congress or the FIFA Council, which met yesterday.
Vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Referees Association and one of the framers of the TTFA’s revised constitution in 2015, Osmond Downer, told the Express yesterday that delegates going to the Congress must be informed beforehand of any matter to be discussed. He said while the matter of suspensions is a mandatory item on the agenda, the TTFA matter is not specifically there.
In addition, Downer said the TTFA issue was also not discussed at the meeting of the FIFA Council, which met yesterday. Explaining that the Council can put to the Congress any motion for expulsion or suspension, he said: “I saw the agenda for the Council meeting and it has on it ratification of matters coming from the Bureau. But there is no item regarding suspension for Trinidad and Tobago.”
The Bureau comprises president Gianni Infantino and the presidents of FIFA’s six confederations, which met within the last week.
Downer added: “Following normal procedure it (a suspension for the TTFA) would not be a matter to be discussed by the Congress because such a matter would have to be brought to the Congress by the Council. So unless some irregular way is found to bring it to the Congress for discussion, it will not be discussed, because the Council is not discussing it today (yesterday).”
Wallace and his United TTFA had been given until Wednesday by FIFA to withdraw its legal action in the High Court or face the possibility of a suspension or ban.
United TTFA has not withdrawn its case and on Monday was granted an injunction by Justice Carol Gobin which prevented the Normalisation Committee from sanctioning an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) that could have seen the TTFA delegates instructing the group to stop its action. And yesterday, Look Loy remained steadfast despite the ban threat.
Look Loy reasoned that even in the event of a ban: “In the real world of Covid, there is no football to be played until the second quarter of next year... There is no domestic football for the rest of this year... Concacaf has already put off all qualifying and international play until March of 2021. There is no football for the next six months. No boy or girl is going to get a scholarship to the United States until August of next year, that’s almost a year from now, so I’m saying if we are sanctioned, in the real world, what are we going to miss?”
He added: “This case is going to be settled within that period or long before... the end of that period. If the matter goes the way of FIFA, we have said publicly, then we walk away. I personally have no interest in pursuing this to the Privy Council and Appeal Court and all of that. If Justice Gobin decides in favour of FIFA, we walk away.
“If she decides that the Wallace administration is the legitimate administration then we address it, bring the membership together and we begin to deal with the solution together... I repeat, Trinidad and Tobago football is going to be missing nothing under a suspension until April of next year.”
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Normalisation Committee questions TTFA decisions.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
Bad business
UNITED TTFA has been lumped with previous administrations for its work in the four months it was in charge of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.
“Whether it was under the David John-Williams administration or United TTFA, or before them with Ollie Camps and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, we have had successive leaderships failing and failing our country,” Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad said on I95FM’s sports programme on Monday.
Hadad and committee member Nigel Romano spoke on the current state of affairs after being appointed in March as part of FIFA’s Normalisation Committee, with a mandate to clean up the TTFA’s dire financial position.
Based on what they have found, Romano said the TTFA is management-deficient in many areas.
Romano estimated the TTFA’s current debt stands at $100 million and claimed that it was made worse in the four months United TTFA took charge because it locked the Association into unfavourable but legal contracts with Englishmen Peter Miller and Terry Fenwick, AVEC Sports and others.
Wallace issued a release defending his name and explaining that he signed those deals based on the belief that marketer Miller would bring financial relief to the TTFA.
“Peter Miller and company promised us TT$9.5 million per year worth of sponsorship for four years. Along with a project that was proposed to eliminate the TTFA’s TT$50 million debt, this represented — or seemed to — an ideal platform for doing business with Miller,” the Wallace release had said.
Wallace’s explanation was: “Since the expected sponsorship dollars were to come directly to the TTFA, we agreed that commissions, salaries, payments, etc would have been paid by us. The amount to be paid to Miller was established before I accepted to go forward with the arrangement, so I honoured same.”
Wallace added:“Let me reiterate here that I didn’t think we had anything to lose by engaging Miller. If he were successful, I reasoned, the TTFA would also be successful; if he failed, then we would simply have remained in the hole that previous administrations had dug us into.”
Romano termed the decision-making in signing the deals as “strange” and said that for 2020 alone it would cost the Association TT $5 million.
Referring to the AVEC Sports deal, Romano said:“We could not understand why they were signing such a contract. In a kit agreement you go with Nike or adidas and they pay you to put their brand on your shirt.”
Hadad also raised the issue of senior men’s coach Terry Fenwick and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan being given contracts not approved by the TTFA board.
He added:“There is also an issue with the Dennis Lawrence contract being ended and we have to pay him off and Stuart Charles Fevrier and Stephen De Four; contracts that were cancelled and we have to pay again all these people. We are paying two head coaches at the same time, Dennis Lawrence’s salary and Terry’s salary. That type of governance needs to be addressed.”
Hadad also referred to another decision by the Wallace-led TTFA.
“Let us not forget also that the United TTFA made a lot of promises in the run-up to the elections, the largest one being the Lavender deal for $12 million dollars annually for the TTFA, which was supposed to be built on land that the (Arima) mayor did not give anybody.”
In March, then Arima Mayor Lisa Morris-Julian distanced the borough from any partnership with either the TTFA and UK consultants or agreeing to any Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a multi-billion-dollar residential and sporting facility in Arima. However, Wallace has spoken of this proposal as the TTFA’s saviour.
“I was confident that we would have benefited from our arrangement with Miller. The Arima arrangement, for example, that spoke to clearing the debt got us to the point of signing an MOU. And even after the Normalisation Committee was set up, the company involved wrote to the Prime Minister indicating their continuing interest in the project.
“My position was — and still is — that, even if only 50 per cent of what was promised was delivered, whatever remained after payout would have been more than we originally had.
“It is only fair for people to be judged on their actions, past and present. However, unfortunately, sometimes we do not give people a chance to make amends for past mistakes,” said Wallace. “All I ask is that you not judge my choices without attempting to understand the reasons for my actions.”
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New deadline to drop the case on the 23rd.
More bluff? More bark than bite?
Not enough time for TTFA members to call an EGM
So what is the play here? Bureau council secrecy?
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The new date is Sept 23rd. Letter sign by Fatma Samoura, Secretary General.
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New deadline to drop the case on the 23rd.
More bluff? More bark than bite?
Not enough time for TTFA members to call an EGM
So what is the play here? Bureau council secrecy?
Have you been satisfied with the administration (financial & otherwise) of football in TT over the past 40 years?
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WATCH: SportsMax Zone along with Alex Jordan and Trinidad and Tobago U-17 Head Coach Angus Eve discuss the TTFA vs FIFA saga
https://www.youtube.com/v/bAmkCAcqz2A
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United TTFA gets new FIFA deadline - September 23
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
The T&T Football Association was today, given a revised deadline of September 23 to drop all matters in the court against the sport's world governing body-FIFA, or face suspension.
FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Normalisation Committee Robert Hadad on Friday, stated: "Given the seriousness of the matter addressed therein, the FIFA Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claims against FIFA before the T&T courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA Statutes, in particular art 57 et seqq of the FIFA Statutes, by September 23 at 15:00 AST (21:00 CET). Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA."
Her letter comes in the heels after the T&T public was expecting the TTFA was going to be sanctioned at the FIFA Congress which is taking place at the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland.
However, the agenda for the Congress showed no suspensions or expulsions, which meant the TTFA, led by former president William Wallace and including vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, was given another opportunity to make things right with the FIFA.
On August 26th, Samoura issued a letter to Hadad, warning the TTFA they would be banned if they did not drop the court matter and accept the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland as the jurisdiction for the settlement of all disputes among Member Associations.
The TTFA has been challenging a decision by the FIFA to install a normalisation committee on March 17, thereby replacing them (TTFA) as the duly elected executive to run the affairs of TT football.
To date, Wallace and his team which is trading as the United TTFA, has had favourable fortunes with T&T High court judge Carol Gobin, who has ruled on August 13, that the local court can hear the matter involving both parties.
Both parties are now before the Court of Appeal with the matter to be heard on October 21. However, FIFA is expected to file their defence by today or the High court matter which starts on October 9.
Wallace and his executive were replaced by Hadad as chairman, attorney Judy Daniel (deputy chairman), and retired banker Nigel Romano as the administrators of T&T football through the Normalisation Committee.
(https://www.guardian.co.tt/image-3.2809765.118596.20200918170210.3bcc42b596?size=1024)
RELATED NEWS
Fifa gives TTFA new ‘final deadline’ of 23 Sep, Hadad risks ‘contempt’ charge to relay it.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Fifa has given the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) a new ‘final deadline’ of 23 September to ensure the withdrawal of its High Court case against the governing body.
The latest threat was issued by Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura to Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad this morning and then relayed via a press release.
TTFA president William Wallace, who says he has support of roughly half of the local body’s delegates, has refused to back down and is supported by vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, as well as ‘United TTFA’ colleagues Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy—who helped get him elected.
On 26 August, Samoura ‘firmly requested’ that the ‘TTFA former leadership’ withdraw its claim from the local High Court ‘by 16 September 2020 at the latest’. She said then that ‘failure to comply with this directive would result in the commencement of suspension proceedings via the relevant Fifa bodies’.
Today, as Fifa’s 70th Congress passed without repercussions for the TTFA, Samoura offered a new deadline.
“We hereby follow up on our latest correspondence dated 26 August 2020 pertaining to the situation of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association,” stated Samoura, via email. “Given the seriousness of the matter addressed therein, the Fifa Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claims against Fifa before the Trinidad and Tobago courts and comply with all their obligations under the Fifa Statutes—in particular articles 57 et seqq—by 23 September at 15:00 AST (21:00 CET).
“Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant Fifa bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.”
Samoura asked Hadad to ‘communicate the above mentioned to all relevant persons and to keep Fifa closely informed on all further developments regarding the matter’.
Hadad relayed Fifa’s missive to the Trinidad and Tobago public, via a press release. By so doing, Hadad, the Co-CEO of HadCo Limited, might be considered to have flouted an injunction by High Court Judge Carol Gobin, which was passed on Monday 14 September.
Justice Gobin ordered Fifa from ‘instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner or fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings—except by way of lawful representations made by [Fifa’s] duly appointed Attorneys-at-Law or other lawful intervention’.
Hadad, along with normalisation committee members Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano, was specifically named by Justice Gobin.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino, as predicted by Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Osmond Downer last month, never intended to address the TTFA at today’s congress.
The TTFA imbroglio was not raised on the agenda of Fifa’s Congress or its Council meeting—the latter was held yesterday.
However, as Wired868 noted on 31 August, Infantino has the option of striking against the local administration via the seven-member Bureau of the Fifa Council, which is headed by Infantino.
It was the Bureau, which is Fifa’s version of an ‘emergency committee’, that ordered a normalisation committee for the twin island republic in the first place, on 13 March, rather than the 37-member Fifa Council or 211-member Fifa Congress.
Arguably, Fifa’s new deadline could be meant to justify a future declaration of the Trinidad and Tobago impasse as an emergency. If not, Infantino might feasibly have to explain why the TTFA’s failure to meet the initial cut-off point of 16 September was not considered urgent enough to raise before the Council’s meeting on 17 September or the Congress’ meeting on 18 September.
Infantino’s failure to act against the TTFA, thus far, might lend weight to those who suggested that Fifa was bluffing.
However, Samoura’s new five-day deadline is instructive.
If Fifa hoped that the TTFA’s football delegates would officially voice their opposition to its elected officers, the governing body would have given a deadline of at least 10 days—so as to be compatible with the TTFA Constitution.
If Fifa felt the delegates might suspend or expel Wallace, then the TTFA would have needed 30 days to do so, again in keeping with its constitution.
Five days is insufficient time for delegates concerned by the possible sanction to do anything more than pray. It is Infantino’s Bureau of the Fifa Council, not TTFA members, that will decide what happens now.
Hadad can be in the firing line, though. The local businessman could arguably be held in contempt of the High Court for interfering with an active case through his press release, issued by TTFA media manager Shaun Fuentes.
Wired868 contacted TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle for comment on Fifa’s latest threat, which was relayed to the local public by Hadad. However, he had not responded up to the time of publication.
FIFA gives new deadline, but United TTFA resolute.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
UNITED TTFA has been given another deadline by FIFA to withdraw their case against the world football body. The new deadline is September 23.
FIFA, on August 26, gave the United TTFA a deadline of September 16 to withdraw their case from the High Court and have it heard at the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or face disciplinary action (either a ban or suspension) at the FIFA Congress.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino did not mention T&T football when he spoke about the suspension or expulsion of a member at the 70th FIFA Congress, on Friday.
Infantino in his brief comment on the topic said, "There is nothing that falls into this agenda item which is obviously good news."
A letter dated September 18 by FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura to Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, said, “Given the seriousness of the matter addressed therein, the FIFA Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claims against FIFA before the T&T courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA statutes, in particular arts 57 et seqq of the FIFA statutes by September 23 at 15:00 AST (21:00 CET). Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA (TT Football Association).”
The letter continued, “Finally, we kindly request the TTFA to communicate the above mentioned to all relevant persons and to keep FIFA closely informed on all further developments regarding the matter.”
President of the TT Super League Keith Look Loy, who is a member of the United TTFA, said the new deadline date will not change the minds of the United TTFA members to withdraw the case.
“No, we are not going to change,” Look Loy told Newsday.
William Wallace is the leader of the United TTFA team that successfully challenged for leadership of the TTFA in November 2019.
Wallace and his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, are challenging FIFA’s decision, on March 17, to remove the TTFA executive from office and install a normalisation committee.
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WATCH: United TTFA member Keith Look Loy discusses the TTFA vs FIFA saga on SportsMax Zone.
https://www.youtube.com/v/KPFoUKx9Nfs
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I can’t take no more of this roller coaster ride, and the more i watch fifa operate it’s the more disgusted I’ve become with football, to the point where I’ve lost interest in the game altogether. I really believe that there’s no hope for TT football, first with camps and jack then on to this nasty fat bastard who wants to replace jack warner on football’s back.
it seems to me that fifa has been the warden on our football for the past 30 yrs, first with jack warner being sheltered and shuttled by blatter to do with TT football as he saw fit, now it’s fat david who’s facilitated by infantino to be the sole proprietor of football in TT, I could only hope that the FBI has been alerted to stink david and his underhand operations, and has plans to take him to task, that in of itself would be poetic justice at its finest.
I’ve had enough, please wake me when it’s over.
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The new date is Sept 23rd. Letter sign by Fatma Samoura, Secretary General.
ah wonder how that wicked witch could sleep at night, she has a real slave trader disposition.
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our football for the past 30 yrs, first with jack warner being sheltered and shuttled by blatter
don't forget Havelange.
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Unpopular take: They're actually worried it would set a precedent, and need the matter withdrawn rather than a loss through the courts. The court's judgement made it clear the reliance on CAS is arbitrary and unfairly stacked in FIFA's favour, and if they lose the appeal it will become a bigger news story. That's why they had their patsy break the court order to put the letter out - they could have done it themselves, but that would make it bigger news and risk FIFA themselves breaching the order.
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Sancho: TTFA members don’t support Wallace.
By Sharlene Rampersad (Guardian).
Local football has been mismanaged for decades and the financial woes of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) did not start under the David John-Williams administration. The current association members also no longer support the United TTFA executive led by William Wallace.
This was the view expressed by former national defender and Sports Minister Brent Sancho yesterday.
Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew, Sancho said FIFA should have appointed a normalisation committee nearly three decades ago to stop the financial improprieties of the then TTFA executive.
“Every president that has come into power has fallen short when it comes to transparency and accountability, and hence the reason why the association is saddled with close to a $100 million in debt,” Sancho told host Natalee Legore.
Sancho’s comment came even as FIFA was meeting at its 70th Congress yesterday. Many were expecting the TTFA to face sanction during the event due to the United TTFA’s court action against FIFA in the local court. However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said yesterday the matter was not on the agenda and it was not dealt with then.
Hours after the congress, however, FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura sent a letter to FIFA Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad advising that they were giving Wallace’s team a new deadline of September 23 to withdraw the legal action against FIFA. Barring this, Samoura said the relevant FIFA bodies will meet to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.
Sancho told Legore that the structures that should have been in place at the executive level of the association were not and over the years, successive presidents had been voted out of office because of it.
He said despite their campaign promises ahead of last November’s AGM, even the recently-elected Wallace administration was no different.
“We brought in the William Wallace administration to the floor because the membership felt that the platform that they placed, that they campaigned on, which was transparency, accountability, was the right one for us and of course we saw in the first four months of their operation where they would have ran up a debt of approximately $15 million, that they too were culpable in the culture that has destroyed football for so many years,” Sancho said.
He said the Normalisation Committee headed by Hadad was put in place to ensure the TTFA’s debts were paid and the decision by Wallace to challenge those appointments in the court does not reflect the views of the association’s membership.
“From a membership point of view in the TTFA, they feel as if we are being hijacked and kidnapped into this scenario - that the leadership of the TTFA has not shown the view of the membership. The mere fact is that four to five individuals are making decisions on behalf of not just the membership but T&T,” Sancho said.
Sancho said it was also “absolutely ridiculous” that the association is in so much debt.
“The membership has been let down so many times and it is startling to see that a lot of the administrators have been involved in the sport for 30-plus years,” he said.
“This is not a new behaviour, this is learnt behaviour and a pattern which has taken place for so many years. So many of them who are currently here now were part of FIFA, were part of the TTFA for so many years and continue to exemplify that type of behaviour.”
He said local football is in desperate need of change.
Sancho said if FIFA decides to place any sanctions on T&T, the young generation of footballers are the ones who will suffer the consequences as a suspension can lead to T&T being kicked out of the World Cup cycle.
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Wallace: Anything can happen between now and Sept 23.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
T&T's football could be spared being banned by the sport's world governing body - FIFA.
William Wallace, president of the T&T Football Association, which has found itself in a heated court battle with the FIFA over the appointment of a Normalisation Committee that has replaced he and his executive on March 27, as the administrators of football in T&T, for the first time, hinted at possibly dropping the court matter, as was requested by the FIFA on August 26.
His comment comes on the heels of a revised deadline of September 23 given by FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura in a letter to the chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) Robert Hadad on Friday, moments after word started spreading that there was no expulsion or suspension on the agenda for the FIFA Congress in Switzerland, thereby ruling out the possibility of T&T getting banned for violation of the FIFA Statutes.
Samoura in her letter said: "Given the seriousness of the matter addressed therein, the FIFA Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claims against FIFA before the T&T courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA Statutes, in particular art 57 et seqq of the FIFA Statutes, by September 23 at 15:00 AST (21:00 CET). Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA."
However, Wallace does not rule out a decision by the FIFA Bureau to sanction T&T at any time.
The bureau comprises seven members, being led by chairman Gianni Infantino of Switzerland, and includes Ahmad Ahmad (Madagascar), Salman Bin Ebrahim Shaikh Al Khalifa (Bahrain), Aleksander Ceferin (Slovenia), Alejandro Dominguez (Paraguay), Lambert Maltock (Vanuatu) and Vittorio Montagliani of Canada. This committee can meet at any time, once the occasion requires.
Wallace in an immediate response to the decision of the FIFA to not have expulsion and suspension at the Congress said he believes it was a strategic move.
"The intention was to allow the Bureau to make that decision and not bring it before the Congress, as members would have been apprised of all that was happening, which in turn, would have raised many questions. We have been keeping them apprised, and then there was the Mark Bassant investigative story which would have strengthened our case," Wallace explained to Guardian Media Sports on Friday.
Wallace said that his group which comprised vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick and associates Keith Look Loy, the president of the T&T Super League (TTSL) and Anthony Harford, the president of the Northern Football Association (NFA), will consider the new deadline given and will keep an open door for mediation talks with FIFA at any time.
Quizzed on whether he was considering dropping the case, Wallace said: "Between now and the deadline date, all options will be considered."
To suspend a member, a 75 per cent majority would have been needed, an amount that Wallace and his team believe would have been difficult to achieve, believing they would have secured the support from CONMEBOL, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Wallace reiterated his belief that the decision to install a normalisation committee in T&T on March 17, was nothing but a cover-up, and not for the reasons given initially, which was due to extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, which have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.
The NC is Hadad as chairman, attorney Judy Daniel (deputy chairman), and retired banker Nigel Romano, the administrators of T&T football appointed by FIFA.
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United TTFA: Suspension 'inevitable'
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
FIFA’s failure to discuss with its members its legal battle with the ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) executive at Friday's virtual FIFA Congress, has been described as “shady”.
The removed officials, from the United TTFA slate, believe if it was brought up, the Congress would have asked “difficult questions” of the world governing body.
FIFA, on August 26, gave the United TTFA a deadline of September 16 to withdraw its case from the High Court and instead have it heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or face suspension proceedings.
However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino did not mention TT football when he spoke about the suspension or expulsion of a member at the Congress on Friday.
Infantino said, "There is nothing that falls into this agenda item, which is obviously good news."
Far from being shelved, the legal wrangling with TTFA remains on the front burner for football's governing body.
On Friday, FIFA gave TTFA's former executive until September 23 to withdraw the case from the High Court.
A letter from FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura to normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad said, “Given the seriousness of the matter addressed therein, the FIFA Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claims against FIFA before the TT courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA statutes, in particular arts 57 et seqq of the FIFA statutes by September 23 at 15:00 AST (21:00 CET). Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.”
The letter ended by saying, “Finally, we kindly request the TTFA to communicate the above mentioned to all relevant persons and to keep FIFA closely informed on all further developments regarding the matter.”
The instruction to Hadad could land him in trouble as an injunction granted on September 14 specifically addressed "instructing and/or directing any person or persons to seek to withdraw the instant claim and/or in any way, manner or fashion from interfering with or seeking to undermine, the instant proceedings – except by way of lawful representations made by duly appointed Attorneys-at-Law or other lawful intervention."
United TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle said on Friday, "I think it is uncontroversial to say that quite clearly, any order of the High Court must be obeyed unless and until it is overturned by the Court of Appeal."
The United TTFA, led by William Wallace, won the TTFA elections in November 2019.
Wallace and his former vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, are challenging FIFA’s decision, on March 17, to remove them from office and instal a normalisation committee.
In a reaction to the decision by FIFA to bypass item four (the suspension or expulsion of a member), the United TTFA said in a media release, “This is no surprise.”
The release was signed by Wallace, Taylor, Joseph-Warrick, Phillip, Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy.
United TTFA believes FIFA will soon make an announcement concerning TTFA at the level of the Bureau of the Council, which can be called at any time, according to Look Loy.
“United TTFA is fully convinced that the FIFA leadership has decided to use the Bureau of the Council, which comprises seven persons, including FIFA president Infantino, to suspend TTFA. The Bureau is the same FIFA body that imposed the so-called normalisation committee.”
The FIFA congress included 211 delegates and United TTFA believes FIFA would have been faced with some tough questions if the topic of the TTFA was raised.
“FIFA’s leadership has chosen this shady route to suspension rather than submit a suspension recommendation to hundreds of Congress delegates…United TTFA knows that some of these delegates were primed to ask FIFA’s leadership some difficult questions. Such is the democracy and transparency of FIFA, and the end to corruption of which president Infantino spoke at length today.”
United TTFA said the fight for local football will continue.
“While the FIFA cover-up of its complicity in the sins of the last administration continues, so too will United TTFA continue its struggle in the long-term interest of our football.”
Look Loy, who is also president of the TT Super League, confirmed that the new deadline date will not change the minds of the United TTFA members to withdraw the case.
“No, we are not going to change,” Look Loy told Newsday.
The TT Super League president gave the example that because the new deadline date is September 23, the Bureau of Council could be held on September 24.
Several stakeholders have asked United TTFA to withdraw the case because TT football will suffer.
On the contrary, Look Loy believes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPFoUKx9Nfs&feature=emb_title) now is the best time to fight for a cause because no major international football is taking place due to covid19.
“We believe that the suspension is inevitable, but it comes in the time of covid and there is no football to be played until the second quarter of next year, be it domestic or international football. If ever there is a time for us to be suspended it is now and we are holding firm in our position.”
He said the United TTFA is thinking of the “long-term benefits” of local football and want to “set an example for other countries in FIFA.”
RELATED NEWS
FIFA won’t file legal defence; T&T ban looks inevitable
Ian Prescott (T&T Express).
‘WHO BLINKS FIRST’
FIFA has rescinded legal proceedings in the local High Court — regarding the matter involving ousted TTFA executives William Wallace and his three vice-presidents — but still stands firmly behind its September 23 (tomorrow) deadline given for the United TTFA to withdraw any legal action before the local courts.
“Please be informed that FIFA did not file a defence in the case against the TTFA in the Trinidad High Court,” a spokesman from the Communications Division of the FIFA Media Department articulated in response to enquiries by the Express.
World football’s governing body also asserted that in line with its policies, it has chosen not to comply with Friday’s 4 p.m. deadline rendered by Madame Justice Carol Gobin to file a defence.
Further, FIFA related that it is sticking to the position that Wallace and the United TTFA faction has only a couple days to withdraw its action in the High Court, or the TTFA faces an international suspension from football.
“This follows the fact that FIFA has communicated a revised and final deadline to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association for the relevant parties to withdraw their claim by 23 September 2020,” FIFA replied to our correspondence.
“FIFA’s position remains that we do not recognise the claim at the Trinidad court, and that the CAS is the only correct tribunal to consider this dispute,” the FIFA spokesperson added. The Express was informed that further comments would not be engaged at this stage.
Earlier attempts to get clarity on the matter saw FIFA local representative, attorney Jonathan Walker, indicate only “that enquiries should be directed to FIFA”. Meanwhile, TTFA attorney Matthew Gayle could not confirm whether FIFA would be in court on October 9, as directed by Justice Gobin, as start date for the case. “We have not been served. That I can tell you confidently,” stated Gayle.
In a landmark decision, Gobin gave Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, leave to challenge their March 2020 dismissal by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which came about when FIFA instituted its own Normalisation Committee to run the TTFA, which is said to be debt-burdened to the tune of about $100 million.
FIFA’s move toward suspension would be no surprise to United TTFA. Last Friday, FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura sent a letter giving Wallace and his three vice-presidents a week extension to her original September 16 deadline, for them to cease court action against FIFA.
“The FIFA Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claim against FIFA before the Trinidad and Tobago courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA Statutes, in particular arts 57 et seqq of the FIFA Statutes, by 23 September,” Samoura wrote.
“Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.”
Wallace initially argued that there was no risk of the TTFA getting banned and that the risk of United TTFA’s action was only to himself and his executive. However, following Samoura’s release, United TTFA appears to have accepted the inevitable — that of a T&T ban, though still determined in their pursuit of court action.
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Spotlight on TTFA v FIFA — Part 3 - ‘And the winner is…’
Sushilla Y Jadoonanan and Christophe Brathwaite (T&T Express).
“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist” —Indira Gandhi.
You may be hard-pressed to find a better suited quote to describe the impasse between FIFA and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association over the legitimacy of a FIFA installed Normalisation Committee to replace the recently elected TTFA Board.
In Part II, we promised to reveal one of the best kept secrets in sport, one where everyone emerges a winner. We bring to you a magical concept called “mediation”. While sport is competitive by nature, disputes off the field may better be left to the peace-makers. No other Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) method achieves this quite like mediation.
In mediation, the parties appoint a neutral third party to act as a moderator in the proceedings. The mediator remains independent and helps the parties find common ground as they negotiate a resolution. This is unlike arbitration proceedings where the parties appoint an arbitrator or arbitrators who arrive at a final binding decision, usually resulting in a winner and a loser. Today, we focus on mediation, where a tie-game is the goal.
For mediation to work, both parties must walk onto the field with unclenched fists and be willing to play by the rules to which they agree. They must faithfully commit to the process in good faith, and for the good of the game; they must come with clean hands. If they do so, they are likely to reap the benefits of choosing this approach. Naturally the time and expense of lengthy court proceedings will be avoided, the parties may arrive at a more expeditious resolution, the chosen mediator can be an expert in the field of sport, the rights of both parties and the good of the sport are all considered and both parties have a better chance of having their reputations intact at the blow of the final whistle.
Last week we saw that FIFA’s rules are unequivocal. FIFA statutes provide explicitly that “recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations.” FIFA has its own judicial bodies (Disciplinary Committee, Ethics Committee, and Appeals Committee). FIFA goes a step further in obliging all member associations to submit to the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for appeals against final decisions made by FIFA’s legal bodies and against decisions passed by confederations, member associations or leagues. It is within FIFA’s powers to penalise a member for breach of its statutes.
The plot thickens.
What happens when FIFA seeks to oust the jurisdiction of the courts of the member association and refuses to attend mediation? Can mediation still be considered?
Of utmost importance in mediation is confidentiality. We have seen numerous times how breaches of this obligation have frustrated the ADR process and grounded proceedings to a sudden halt. The instant impasse is no exception and we can’t help but get feelings of déjŕ vu as we remember the failed ADR proceedings for alleged breach of confidentiality when the World Cup 2006 Soca Warriors squad when the Trinidad and Tobago players sought to enforce an alleged promise made by the then TTFA Special Advisor Austin Jack Warner.
In this instance, FIFA has repeatedly refused to re-join the mediation table as they claimed breach of the confidentiality obligation by the lawyers of the TTFA. The United TTFA on the other hand held steadfast in its battle with its governing body, eager to resume the administration of football in Trinidad and Tobago, in defiance of FIFA’s appointment of the Normalisation Committee.
Such a perceived breach has now indefinitely stymied any reconciliation between the parties. While we witness the seemingly immovable positions of these two bodies, one undoubtedly mightier than that other, we see how important good faith discussions come into play, for the preservation of the reputation of those involved, and for the integrity of the sport. We have a case where both sides are challenging the validity of each other’s actions, with one having the power to penalise the other.
On Friday September 18th 2020 at the 70th FIFA Congress, the world governing body did not address the question on whether the TTFA would be sanctioned by way of suspension. At the Congress, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino said: “There is nothing that falls into this agenda item which is obviously good news.” Instead, FIFA, with clenched fists, issued a final ultimatum to the TTFA to “withdraw all types of claims against FIFA before the Trinidad & Tobago courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA statutes…by September 23 at 15:00 AST.” FIFA cautioned that failure to comply with this directive will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.
The United TTFA swiftly responded indicating that they have no intention of withdrawing the case.
We seem to have gone into extra time on this one with both sides on the offence and no one willing to create an opening. Oh, how things have changed since we drew 0-0 with Sweden back in June 2006! With mediation also having been shown a red card, we must now ask ourselves, soberly, if this battle could ever have a real winner.
Has this fight already caused irreparable damage to football in our twin island? What good can result from the manner in which this entire scenario has been handled? If we could turn back the clock and have a re-look at the first half of this saga, what would we say could have been done differently…better? Perhaps indeed, successful mediation would have stopped a penalty from being conceded.
—Sushilla Y Jadoonanan is the general secretary and Christophe Brathwaite is chairperson of the Constitutional Committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Association for Sport and Law.
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Wallace defends decision to stay in court.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
RIGHT STAND
It is time to stop flip-flopping and stand on principle.
Sidelined Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president William Wallace says this is one of the issues the local football fraternity must face as time ticks away towards a ban from international football.
On Friday, Fatma Samoura, general secretary of world governing body, FIFA, wrote to the chairman of its local Normalisation Committee Robert Hadad, informing that Wallace and his United TTFA group had been given more time to reconsider their decision or the country would face serious consequences.
“The FIFA Council has decided to give a final deadline to the relevant parties to withdraw all types of claims against FIFA before the Trinidad and Tobago courts and comply with all their obligations under the FIFA Statutes, in particular arts 57 et seqq of the FIFA Statutes, by 23 September,” Samoura wrote.
“Failure to comply with this directive within this revised deadline will result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.”
United TTFA are currently challenging the legitimacy of FIFA’s Normalisation Committee in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, a move which has brought resistance from some members of the local association who attempted to hold and Emergency General Meeting (EGM) to vote on the matter, a move which United TTFA blocked via an injunction granted by Justice Carol Gobin.
But responding again to criticism of his group’s stance, Wallace insisted that the TTFA had to take a stand. “If I put my tail between my legs I’m supporting something that is totally wrong. I’m supporting injustice, and more than that, as the facts present themselves now, I’m supporting corruption,” Wallace said on TV6’s Morning Edition programme on Friday.
However, the TTFA’s elected president went further and addressed the question of what impact his group’s action could have on the future of the country’s youth.
“We are talking about children and football and they somehow are going to be affected by this. They would also be affected off the field of play if we continue to accept and teach the wrong things, that bullying is right, that supporting something for the sake of expediency is also right,” Wallace said.
“People supported this, and the only time people came out against this is when they realised that Trinidad and Tobago might be sanctioned. So it was correct up front, we got full support and then suddenly it dawned on us that you know what...we may be sanctioned, so hear what, expediency steps in, let us pull back now and ask that the matter be removed.”
And asked whether he was prepared to deal with the backlash that could come with suspension from FIFA, Wallace was steadfast. “That is one of the things that we would have considered...Based on the issue, it is so important to us, that if those are the consequences we have to face at the end of the day we are willing to face them,” he said.
But also speaking on the programme, Technical Committee chairman under the Wallace administration, Keith Look Loy, did not accept that the majority of TTFA members are now against United TTFA’s action.
“We have support across the board in Trinidad and Tobago football,” Look Loy said. “There is at least one Pro League club...Steve David, the boss in that club, a football icon in this country, authorised me to say that (Point Fortin) Civic stands with United TTFA in this, do not back down...We have Super League clubs, we have regional level clubs, and across the board we have support.”
However, he stressed: “The issue is not what people think, the issue is not (to) be judged in the media. A Justice of the High Court of this country forbade any discussion of this matter because it is under her consideration and it’s before her court and that’s the end of the matter.”
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Sancho upset as Wallace calls TTFA meeting
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)
ACTING chairman of the T&T Pro League and T&T Football Association (TTFA) board member Brent Sancho has slammed as “disrespectful” and “a slap to the face” the decision by ousted TTFA president William Wallace to call a virtual membership meeting on the eve of FIFA's deadline. The meeting will be held at 7pm tonight.
The unsigned invitation letter was issued by Wallace to the TTFA member delegates on Monday and "TTFA vs FIFA case" was listed as the agenda.
The United TTFA team of Wallace, his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip, Northern Football Association (NFA) president Anthony Harford and Super League president Keith Look Loy are challenging FIFA’s decision, on March 17, to remove the TTFA executive from office and instal a normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad.
FIFA said the decision was owing to TTFA’s mounting debt and "very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity."
Wallace's executive has called FIFA's rationale as unfair, claiming they were not given a chance to implement their plan after just four months in charge. Their fight against their removal has become a legal one.
But FIFA, on August 26, gave the United TTFA a deadline of September 16 to withdraw their case from the High Court and have it heard instead at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or face suspension proceedings. FIFA insists CAS is the sole authority to hear disputes between FIFA and its Member Associations.
At last Friday's FIFA Congress, TTFA's battle with FIFA was not discussed but FIFA later extended the deadline to the United TTFA team to Wednesday. FIFA reiterated that TTFA faces suspension if the case is not dropped from the local court.
Wallace’s letter to TTFA delegates on Tuesday read, “The meeting would be hosted by the president and elected officers of the TTFA. Members are asked to join the meeting with their video and volume on.
“Only members on the list of delegates would be allowed into the meeting and we ask all to be respectful to the chair and the meeting as we discuss the business of the association.”
Wallace's convening of a meeting to discuss the TTFA-FIFA legal battle has raised eyebrows as the United TTFA vehemently opposed a similar meeting scheduled for September 15.
On September 14, Justice Carol Gobin, in the Port of Spain High Court, granted an injunction to the United TTFA to stop last Tuesday’s proposed Emergency General Meeting (EGM), which was called by the normalisation committee to discuss United TTFA’s legal battle against FIFA.
Look Loy sought to clarify why tonight's meeting is different from last Tuesday's.
“That was a court injunction on the normalisation committee, on Hadad,” Look Loy said. “The court also ordered Hadad not to use the (TTFA) letterhead. The court is saying they don’t have the authority to call a meeting.”
He continued, “Wallace is the president, he could call a meeting. This is not an official meeting under the constitution because the minimum (time frame to call it) is ten days. It is an informal meeting to discuss matters with the membership.”
Sancho, who has been a vocal critic against the United TTFA’s challenge to FIFA, countered, “We’ve received no correspondence of a meeting. Most of the members read it through an online publication but (nothing) was sent which, again, was a slap in the face to the membership.”
The former TT defender and owner of Pro League club Central FC added, “I think it’s a complete disrespect to the footballing community in Trinidad. The continued disrespect to the membership and the executive board is being shown. Here we are, approximately six months into this situation and (the United TTFA) continue to show high levels of disrespect.”
RELATED NEWS
Wallace's United TTFA seeks unofficial membership vote.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
The elected executive officers of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) on Tuesday at 7 pm, has called a crucial meeting among the sport's membership to discuss the way forward in the sport in T&T. But Brent Sancho, the outspoken chairman of the T&T Pro League believes the meeting is an attempt to fool the population by garnering the support of illegitimate member delegates and not those who represent the organisations as legitimate delegates.
The TTFA, which comprises elected president William Wallace and his vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, has until today (September 23) to drop their court battle against the FIFA or else face sanctions.
The invitations appeared to have been sent out to certain delegates, as it specifically called only for invited members on the list of delegates to tune in to the virtual session in which their video and volume on, where a decision to drop the legal battle with the FIFA is expected to be discussed.
Guardian Media Sports was reliably informed on Tuesday that delegates from some T&T Pro League clubs, which has been represented by Sancho, were not invited, while the T&T Super League and the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) were among the United TTFA invitees.
However, a Facebook post from Keith Look Loy on Tuesday confirmed that invitations to 11 delegates were sent out by him, and they include - the Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU), Tobago Football Association, T&T Super League, three T&T Pro League clubs, Futsal, T&T Football Referees Association, Women's Football League (WoLF), T&T American Youth Soccer Organisation (TTAYSO), Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), Northern Football Association and the Central Football Association. Invitations to the other delegates were to be sent by Taylor, who had been designated to reach out to all members.
On September 11, Wallace and his team filed an injunction to block the membership for holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the association's members, which was scheduled for Tuesday 15, after High Court Judge Carol Gobin granted the injunction on September 14 which stopped the meeting from being convened.
In a statement on Tuesday, Wallace assured letters will be sent out to all delegates, saying the invitations started going out yesterday (Monday) and will be completed today (Tuesday) via an online delegate chat, or by email. "Whoever did not collect invitations as yet will receive them later today, but invitations will be sent to all. We need to hear what the members think and how they propose we move forward with the sport," Wallace explained.
Meanwhile, Osmond Downer, a vice president of the T&T Football Referees Association, which is one of the invited entities to the meeting explained to Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday that: "It is not a General Meeting. A General Meeting can only be called by the Board of Directors or 50-per cent of the membership. At present, there is no Board of Directors because that has been replaced by the Normalisation Committee and the membership did not call the meeting. The membership must also be given at least 10 days notice."
Downer, who was one of the architects of the TTFA amended constitution in 2015 said, "What has appended is the elected President Mr William Wallace has called a meeting of the Delegates of the TTFA and that meeting is only for information, discussion and or opinions. No binding decisions on anybody or anything can happen."
The TTFA was given an initial deadline of September 16th by FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura on August 26th, however, two days before the FIFA Congress on September 18th, which they (TTFA) failed to honour FIFA's request.
Last Friday, FIFA's Samoura issued another warning with a revised date of September 23 to drop the court case or have the matter brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.
Wallace in a comment after the Congress said he will consider all options moving forward, and yesterday he reiterated that view by saying he will be going into tonight's meeting with an open mind.
After the FIFA congress Wallace said he will consider all options moving forward, and yesterday he reiterated that view by saying he will be going into tonight's meeting with an open mind.
However, he told Guardian Media Sports, that consideration will be given to what's happening with the FIFA internationally.
Meanwhile, Sancho said the TTFA has reached out to members who do not have the voting power of the organisation, such as Steve David, the former national striker who was invited instead of Garthorn Craig of the Point Fortin Civic FC. He said this was also the case with WoLF, the TFA, the TTSL and the NFA, which had reportedly switched their support from the membership two weeks ago to Wallace and his team.
Guardian Media Sports reported recently a unanimous-decision and support from more than 51 per cent of the membership for an EGM to vote for Wallace and his team to forgo litigation in local courts against FIFA and move the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which like FIFA is based in Switzerland, and also recognise the March 27 FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee which is led by businessman Robert Hadad and comprise attorney Daniel (deputy chairman) and member Nigel Romano as the administrators of the sport.
Sancho said he will wait to see how genuine the United TTFA is about finding a solution to the problems the TTFA. He said, at the end of the day, a decision has to be made.
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Calling the meeting is a bit provocative. A lil drop of kerosene on a gassy wound. On this point I get where Sancho is coming from. Of course after FIFA renders a decision it could be difficult for Wallace to convene a meeting. Hence this.
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TTFA to drop FIFA case in local court.
T&T Guardian Reports.
After several months of legal wrangling between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA, the local body has now decided to withdraw its court matter against the world body following an informal virtual meeting on Tuesday night convened by ousted TTFA president William Wallace and his executives.
Sources who were part of the two-hour online Zoom meeting attended by 32 of the 47 TTFA delegates, said a vote on the issue saw 21 delegates voting to drop the case, eight wanted it to continue while three abstained from voting.
This means that Wallace and his team will now withdraw the matter from the High Court.
"There was a popular consensus not to go down a particular road. It would have been morally wrong for anyone to ignore that matter," one source who attended the meeting, which started at 7 pm, told Guardian Media.
Another source said the vote by many delegates was made out of fear of a possible FIFA sanction and hinged on the upcoming of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup in which T&T was listed as one of the six pre-seeded teams along with Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Bermuda and Guadeloupe.
As the vote suggests, not all were happy with the decision.
"We came so far and now this. Why did we fold to FIFA?" said one disappointed delegate who voted to continue the court action.
The meeting reportedly started with some controversy as some delegates claimed they were not invited, believing the United TTFA team had initially invited mostly their supporters.
Brent Sancho, the acting chairman of T&T Pro League, told the meeting the TTFA had reached out to some members who did not have the voting power and named some of them.
Wallace and his vice presidents - Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick – had challenged FIFA's decision to implement a Normalisation Committee to replace their executive just four months after they had been elected into office over then-president David John-Williams’ team.
On September 11, Wallace’s team filed an injunction to block the membership from the Extraordinary General Meeting where the same issue was to be discussed and were successful in getting the injunction.
Guardian Media Sports recently reported that there had been support from more than 51 per cent of the TTFA membership for an EGM to vote for Wallace and his team to drop litigation in local courts against FIFA and move the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which like FIFA is based in Switzerland, and also recognise the Normalisation Committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad.
At the same time, High Court Judge Carol Gobin had also ruled that its case against FIFA could be held in the T&T courts and not at the Court of Arbitration (CAS), as according to FIFA regulations.
The TTFA was initially given an initial deadline of September 16 to withdraw the local court matter by FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura.
Last Friday, however, after the matter of a possible ban on the TTFA was not raised at the FIFA Congress, Samoura issued another warning with a revised September 23 date to drop the court case or the matter would have been sent to the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on suspension of the TTFA.
Afterward, Sancho said he will now wait to see how genuine the United TTFA is about finding a solution to the problems within the organisation. He said at the end of the day, a decision has to be made.
RELATED NEWS
United TTFA prepared to back down.
By Stephon Nicholas & Joel Bailey (Newsday).
OUSTED TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace has softened his stance and will consider acquiescing to FIFA's demand to drop its case from the High Court, if TTFA members so desire. Earlier today, Wallace called an informal TTFA meeting for 7pm tonight, a day before FIFA's "final deadline" to withdraw its legal challenge.
Wallace told Newsday on Tuesday, the change in approach was not influenced by the pleas of the local football community but rather a seemingly strong-arm tactic by the world governing body.
FIFA remove Wallace's executive, on March 17, after just four months in office owing to TTFA’s mounting debt and "very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity."
A normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, was put to run the TTFA affairs, a decision Wallace's executive had previously refused to accept.
Wallace's United TTFA had remained defiant amid an earlier September 16 deadline given by FIFA to withdraw the matter from the local court. FIFA insists the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the sole authority to hear disputes between FIFA and its Member Associations.
At last Friday's FIFA Congress, TTFA's battle with FIFA was not discussed but FIFA later extended the deadline to Wednesday. FIFA reiterated that TTFA faces suspension if the case is not dropped from the local court.
United TTFA member Keith Look Loy previously told Newsday suspension was inevitable.
He said, “We believe that the suspension is inevitable, but it comes in the time of covid and there is no football to be played until the second quarter of next year, be it domestic or international football. If ever there is a time for us to be suspended it is now and we are holding firm in our position.”
FIFA has seemingly countered that position with the draw for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on September 28. If the United TTFA does not comply, FIFA could ban TT through FIFA's seven-member Bureau of the Council and T&T's Gold Cup dreams could be shattered.
Wallace said, "We are at a serious crossroads and the dynamics have changed. Where we would not have had any activity for 2020 and now they have this draw, this has changed the dynamics. This has changed how we see things. Whatever decision we make will benefit Trinidad and Tobago football."
He said TTFA members have the chance later today to air their views.
"Whatever comes out of the meeting today, we would take into consideration in terms of making a decision. I'm not saying if the membership say drop the case we will drop the case, I'm saying whatever is discussed with the membership today would affect how we move forward."
Majority of TTFA members vote to end FIFA battle.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
THE majority of the TT Football Association (TTFA) members voted on Tuesday to end United TTFA’s court action against FIFA.
A virtual meeting ended at 9.30 pm. Earlier on Tuesday, ousted TTFA president William Wallace told Newsday he was willing to hear the views of the TTFA membership and called the informal meeting, a day before FIFA’s September 23 deadline given to TTFA to withdraw the matter from the High Court.
After the meeting, TT Pro League acting chairman and TTFA board member Brent Sancho told Newsday, “The majority (voted) against the court matter.”
Sancho is hopeful that Wallace and the United TTFA listen to the TTFA members.
“At the end of the day, I suspect good sense will prevail tomorrow (Wednesday) and the matter should be taken out of court and more importantly, I think this group was looking for a reason to step aside and they knew the writing was on the wall.”
Sancho said the number of people who wanted to withdraw the court matter was approximately three times more than those who were in favour of continuing the court battle against FIFA.
FIFA removed Wallace's executive, on March 17, after just four months in office owing to TTFA’s mounting debt and "very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity."
A normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, was put to run the TTFA affairs, a decision Wallace's executive had previously refused to accept.
The United TTFA, led by Wallace, did not seem willing to have a change of heart before the previous deadline by FIFA of September 16 to withdraw the matter.
FIFA insists the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the sole authority to hear disputes between FIFA and its member associations.
At last Friday's FIFA Congress, TTFA's battle with FIFA was not discussed but FIFA later extended the deadline to Wednesday. FIFA reiterated that TTFA faces suspension if the case is not dropped.
Before the meeting on Tuesday night, Wallace said he was willing to listen to the opinions of the TTFA members.
"Whatever comes out of the meeting today, we would take into consideration in terms of making a decision. I'm not saying if the membership say drop the case we will drop the case, I'm saying whatever is discussed with the membership today would affect how we move forward."
With the draw for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on September 28 FIFA could ban T&T through FIFA's seven-member Bureau of the Council and T&T's Gold Cup dreams could be dashed if the United TTFA does not comply.
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Cowardice of the highest order, a disgrace against their name
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Cowardice of the highest order, a disgrace against their name
thats easy for you to say not having all the information available, or not knowing the inside scoop as to what is what. maybe if they continued fifa could have banned the executive and left the federation to continue on, and just maybe the United ttfa were hoping for the issue to be brought up at the congress on friday, but infantino and his henchmen found it prudent to use the confederation puppets instead, which ultimately foiled the plans of the United ttfa to have their case heard in front the congress.
you have to give it to knob head gianni, he is as shrude as any mafioso don, but then again the longest rope has an end, I’m hoping the next time he comes up for the fifa presidency that he loses by one single vote, and I hope wallace would be around to be the one vote he loses by. that would be sweet justice.
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Notwithstanding all of that, we could still be "banned".
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Cowardice of the highest order, a disgrace against their name
And a pox on their houses?
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Cowardice of the highest order, a disgrace against their name
And a pox on their houses?
It seemed a bit below the belt during Covid times to wish that.
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Cowardice of the highest order, a disgrace against their name
thats easy for you to say not having all the information available, or not knowing the inside scoop as to what is what. maybe if they continued fifa could have banned the executive and left the federation to continue on, and just maybe the United ttfa were hoping for the issue to be brought up at the congress on friday, but infantino and his henchmen found it prudent to use the confederation puppets instead, which ultimately foiled the plans of the United ttfa to have their case heard in front the congress.
you have to give it to knob head gianni, he is as shrude as any mafioso don, but then again the longest rope has an end, I’m hoping the next time he comes up for the fifa presidency that he loses by one single vote, and I hope wallace would be around to be the one vote he loses by. that would be sweet justice.
Banned from what? A chance to fail at qualification? We already cannot afford to send our youth teams - DJW was pulling us out left and right to fund his vanity projects.
Who is exactly missing out from a ban? If DJW and his spineless, self-serving, scumbag friends get their hands in the cookie jar again, how would it be better than a ban? The humanoid presided over the worst period in TTFA history - worst both on and off the pitch.
Hadad is an embarrassment - I wouldn't leave him running a kitchen for the anorexic let alone an FA with more debt than blood cells.
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Wishful thinking.. but this is what I honestly believe.
Step 1 - withdraw the case (let them think we accept defeat)
Step 2 - wait/hope DJW gets charged (Bassant should be releasing more information soon)
Step 3 - go to CAS (United TTFA might have a better chance arguing their case after DJW gets charged)
Maybe this is the strategy. Withdrawing the court case avoids suspension. This means that we can still play. But once the evidence about DJW comes up, then that will be the right time to go to the CAS and argue. CAS wont side with FIFA if there is clear evidence of corruption.
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Wallace's team shows remarkable fighting spirit
By Colin Murray (Guardian).
Happy Republic Day to all!
It is a great time for our sportsmen and sportswomen to reflect on all of their achievements both from a national team level and an individual level over the last year.
By the time you read this column, our football fate could have already been sealed. I am referring to the matter between FIFA and the T&T Football Association ( TTFA). I have gone off the boil on this issue although it continues to make headlines as the Caribbean Premier League had most, if not all of my attention.
To be banned or not to be banned? This has been the question plaguing the entire footballing fraternity and I am not just speaking about the regional associations - Pro and Super League clubs, match officials, etc but also included are all football-loving fans. FIFA has been flexing its muscles recently and making veiled threats to the United TTFA - or should I say to the relevant parties - to withdraw all types of claims against it before the T&T courts.
FIFA has explicitly stated that under its statutes that all members agreed to abide by, in particular, Article 57 (1) states, “FIFA recognises the independent Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) with headquarters in Lausanne (Switzerland) to resolve disputes between FIFA, member associations, confederations, leagues, clubs, players, officials, intermediaries and licensed match agents.”
In other words, there is no other avenue available to challenge any dispute but CAS. FIFA further went on to warn the relevant parties that should they fail to comply with this ‘do as I say’ directive within its revised deadline, the matter will be brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies to decide on the suspension of the TTFA.
Fighting words indeed and if you fear FIFA as many do, several stakeholders of T&T football would be running around hoping and praying that FIFA is pulling a bluff or perhaps wishing that the United TTFA would withdraw their principled stance in the matter and simply walk away.
Admittedly, although I admire the stance taken by United TTFA, I would hate to see our country banned from international football. But something was brought to my attention by Osmond “Mr Constitution” Downer which I never gave thought to.
Exactly who will FIFA ban? TTFA or United TTFA members? FIFA themselves have said ad infinitum that they do not recognise Wallace and company and as far as they are concerned, the members of the imposed normalisation committee are the only ones they recognise. So, if they are being taken to court by these six “outcasts” who, according to them, have no standing in T&T football, how could you suspend TTFA? Yes, this is all conjecture because we all know FIFA can do what they want, how they want and to whom they please.
United TTFA continuously speaks about the injustice meted out to them and yes, they are fully justified to feel this way. The feeling of whether they walk away from this if they will be complicit in turning a blind eye to wrongdoing is also very real. I presume this notion is even more ignited with Mark Bassant’s fantastic piece of investigative journalism on the ‘Home of Football’. The chickens came home to roost for the United TTFA with the findings of Bassant and his team as the project was shrouded in secrecy throughout its life cycle.
The executive of the United TTFA is worthy of credit. When they were elected to office, they immediately shut down the ‘Home of Football’ and indicated that all was not above board. But Gianni Infantino, who smiled, drank cocktails and hobnobbed with our Prime Minister at the opening, and his right hand Fatma Samoura refused to investigate the serious concerns by the then TTFA executive with the project. They did nothing and in just three months set up a normalisation committee.
As they say, something ain’t cooking with gas there. The only logical conclusion that objective people are led to is that FIFA, William Wallace’s predecessor and the ‘Home of Football’ were inextricably linked in an eccentric way.
Undoubtedly, we are all concerned about being banned. But why didn’t we make a big stink when our Under-23 Olympic footballers were denied the opportunity to represent the country at the Olympic qualifiers due to “financial difficulties”? What about our women footballers who were not properly funded for a CONCACAF tournament and were in tears on social media? What about our ranking going from 50 to 104? Curacao is ranked higher than T&T. Let that sink in.
Further, when this injustice took place against the TTFA executive, I remember many members within football supported this colonial style of imposition that was being inflicted by FIFA to a democratically elected executive voted in by the authorised personnel with the said FIFA delegates in attendance. It was full support for TTFA to go to CAS for justice as what FIFA was doing was (and still is) unacceptable.
Unfortunately, the tune changed when the parties decided that CAS was not the way to go for various reasons including the odds were stacked too much in FIFA’s favour and the fight would be taken to the local courts. This was when all hell broke loose and the former executive, as far as some clubs were concerned, should have come back to them for clearance to go to the local courts.
But to be frank, Wallace and company may have thought that if they had the backing to go to CAS and FIFA was fighting them, then the same would have applied to the local courts. The problem was FIFA lost round one in the local court and the only way for them to actually win is to threaten our democratically elected officers with the threat of being sanctioned. Sad indeed.
What to me is also sad, but not mind-boggling, is why haven’t all other Caribbean countries formed some sort of solidarity with T&T and say if you ban one you ban all? So much for Caribbean unity! It should be noted that FIFA’s US two million dollars that the countries get hold sway in issues like this. Where is Jack Warner when you need him?
By now, we would have known if Wallace and his team had bowed to the pressure and dropped the case or if we have been sanctioned by FIFA. Whatever the outcome, my admiration for the determination and grit of Wallace and company in the face of blatant wrongdoing against them remains steadfast.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.
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Wallace: I was not mentally ready to sign.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
FORMER president of the TT Football Association (TTFA) and leader of the United TTFA William Wallace said he was not “mentally ready” to include his name on a media release saying that United TTFA decided to withdraw its legal matter against FIFA.
In an interview with Newsday, Wallace said, “I took a decision that I was not ready to sign any document, but if the team wanted to send one out that it (must) go out but I was not ready mentally to sign the document.”
A media release was sent by the United TTFA, at 1 pm, on Wednesday.
Wednesday was the United TTFA's deadline to withdraw their matter from the High Court.
The United TTFA release did not include the names of Wallace and Clynt Taylor. The release was issued by second vice-president Susan Joseph-Warrick, third vice-president Joseph Sam Phillip, Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy.
The United TTFA is not considering taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Pressed more about why he was not ready to include his name, Wallace said, “When you say you are not ready mentally that is sometimes what you can’t explain because it is a mental thing. It is a sense of readiness you know.”
United TTFA was fighting FIFA’s decision to remove the executive of the United TTFA in March and appoint a normalisation committee to run local football. The normalisation committee is led by local businessman Robert Hadad.
FIFA was threatening to suspend T&T if the United TTFA continued their fight against them.
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Good article Colin. But 2 things.
1. Happy Republic Day
We are not a happy republic. What is the difference between independence and being a republic. In case of TT, very little. We still don't control our own destiny. We still have to go to the privy council. A waste of public holiday.
2. Where is Jack Warner when you need him?
Are You serious Colin. He is the cause of all this bullshit. The less we mention his name the better.
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Wallace bows to ‘bullying’ FIFA
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).
FORMER president of the TT Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace admitted he was hesitant in agreeing to withdraw the legal matter against FIFA because the world football body will continue to have its way with T&T football.
A TTFA membership meeting was held on Tuesday night which allowed the TTFA membership to unofficially vote if they wanted the United TTFA to continue its court matter against FIFA.
A media release was sent by the United TTFA at 1 pm on Wednesday, confirming the decision to withdraw the matter.
The release sent by the United TTFA, said, “Of the participating member representatives 21 called on the United TTFA to end its legal challenge to FIFA, while eight were in favour of it being continued and three abstained. We, the signatories, accept this call.” United TTFA was fighting FIFA’s decision to remove the executive of the United TTFA in March and appoint a normalisation committee to run local football. The normalisation committee is led by local businessman Robert Hadad.
Wednesday was the United TTFA’s final deadline to withdraw its matter from the High Court. The United TTFA is also not considering taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The United TTFA release did not include the names of Wallace and Clynt Taylor. The release was issued by second vice-president Susan Joseph-Warrick, third vice-president Joseph Sam Phillip, Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy.
In Wallace’s affidavit in support of the application for permission to withdraw the case, he said he acknowledged that the majority wanted the matter to be withdrawn.
However, Wallace said he wanted to continue with the case. “I do not believe the claim should be withdrawn…I believe the defendant is more afraid than ever before, particularly in the wake of the public revelations into alleged acts of financial mismanagement...”
Wallace continued, “To ask this court for permission to withdraw this claim on the day before Republic Day, and in so doing tacitly accepting that football in T&T continues to be at the whim and fancy of the defendant, who is bullying and coercing the TTFA into bending its knee, makes me feel physically sick. It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.”
Wallace told Newsday he was not “mentally ready” to include his name on the United TTFA media release.
“I took a decision that I was not ready to sign any document, but if the team wanted to send one out that it (must) go out but I was not ready mentally to sign the document.”
Pressed more about why he was not ready to include his name, Wallace said, “When you say you are not ready mentally that is sometimes what you can’t explain because it is a mental thing. It is a sense of readiness you know.”
Asked if he has confidence in the normalisation committee to run T&T football, he said, “I would not say confidence. I can’t describe it as confidence, but I wish them the best of luck.”
The United TTFA release said the “majority of representatives were motivated by fear of FIFA’s threat to suspend TTFA.”
FIFA was threatening to suspend T&T if the United TTFA continued their fight against them.
The Concacaf Gold Cup draw will be held on Monday and T&T would have been excluded from the competition.
“The second FIFA deadline and the desire to participate in the draw for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup have changed the balance of power. People see Concacaf’s move but fear FIFA’s big stick and missing the tournament.”
The United TTFA release also reminded the T&T football stakeholders that FIFA now has complete control.
“We caution T&T that the owners of football have voluntarily agreed to cede the right to govern ourselves to FIFA. We caution that FIFA is now and hereafter the final arbiter of who will be the government of local football. This makes a sham of our sovereignty. It may not matter to some, but our football has been colonized. We call on our supporters to be vigilant and we wish TTFA the best of success.”
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Had to listen to bullerman brent sancho on the news last night calling for fifa to sanction the six United ttfa executives, he’s such a frikin salty 4k, I hate him so much. apart from shaka Hislop and a very small few of those guys who went germany, the rest of that team turned out to be a bunch of self serving dicks.
I remember brent leading the way against jack warner causing the whole team to be banned from representing the country, how is it that he forgot that? and when players like yorke ,latapy , lawrence and stern John broke ranks he was desperately distressed and angered. now to hear him stand in support of fifa against a similar injustice is hypocritical and selfish.
today TT football has lost a lot of supporters including me, and as the years roll on I have become more and more disenchanted with football in that country. it seem like every time there’s a move to fix the country someone with a selfish motive comes along and sets the place back decades. as for fifa and DJW, I’ll be praying that they crumble like a deck of cards. I could hardly wait.
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pull stones, do not despair Breds, we will overcome this impasse. History will show them siding with the the den of thieves. Let's just move on. When ever I come back to TT, I will sort United TTFA, more so Keith and Sam(74 youth team). I used to bwah him wihen he was with Jack. But this time he was on the right side even though they had to give. There will be light at the end of the tunnel.th
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A media release was sent by the United TTFA at 1 pm on Wednesday, confirming the decision to withdraw the matter.
I missed this yesterday.....wow!! And still get jam by FIFA today....I'm done with T&T football....I doh have patience for shyte!!
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There are recourses against retaliation. Hopefully ego will sit in the back seat and commonsense will drive the vehicle.
Well, hmm. The common sense points go to CONCACAF. And the recourse arguments are in process (tacit coercion etc.) Award points there.
Guess who doesn't get a point this round.
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Embattled TTFA President ‘not surprised’ by lack Of support from regional football bodies
By Carlena Knight (Antigua Observer)
Former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace says he was not surprised by the fact he received no public support from regional associations in the country’s fight against FIFA.
For several months, the TTFA has been in a legal battle with the world governing body following the installation of a normalisation committee earlier this year.
This prompted several of the executive members to take legal action in the local courts in Trinidad after the executive withdrew its complaint from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
FIFA, as a result of the group not complying with regulations, suspended the TTFA despite them having withdrawn the case in the local courts.
Wallace at the time of his campaign against FIFA revealed that he had reached out to a number of regional football bodies but was not surprised that none of them came to the TTFA’s aid.
“There were a couple of people who spoke to us off air and they indicated that they disagreed with the whole situation and they support us and so on but nobody came out and actually showed open support,” Wallace explained.
“I have come to the place in my life where I am not surprised that people just don’t stand up for anything anymore and everybody just stays in their corner and see how they can benefit. We have become a selfish world so the Caribbean is not exempted from that so I wasn’t really surprised. Once it is not happening to you, you’re good,” he added.
Wallace, speaking on the Good Morning JoJo sports show on Thursday morning, believes that a united front from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members could have brought significant influence to this matter.
“The only time that we can be strong is if we come together because the Caribbean is a large block of countries. I mean it’s 31 countries you are talking about and if at least three quarters of that had come together and said ‘no, this needs to be dealt in a different way’ then I am sure it would have gone down a different road because people would have had to take note of that,” he said.
“I mean we have asked at least seven times to be given an opportunity to be heard, we asked for dialogue seven times and we were denied all seven times,” Wallace added.
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Resistance to Fifa is futile: fall in line or prepare to be Normalised
By Barney Ronay
theguardian.com
There is plenty up for grabs after the collapse of club football’s TV rights power base – and Fifa is ready to grab it
Nobody wants a visit from the Normalisation Committee. This was the fate of the Samoan FA in June 2008 after concerns were raised about the state of its finances. At which point Fifa fired up the corvette and sent in its platoon of tuxedoed Mr Fix-its.
Let’s be clear. Nobody wants a visit from this Normalisation Committee. The team of high moral priests sent to the Samoan FA’s door that day were handpicked by a specially convened Fifa emergency committee, a delegation that read, in no particular order: Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner, Issa Hayatou, Michel Platini, Reynald Temarii, Mohammad bin Hammam and Nicolás Leoz.
Or to give them their full Seven Dwarves-style nicknames: Six Year Ban Guy, Criminal Charges Guy, TV Rights Fine Guy, Dishonest Payment Guy, Eight Year Ban Guy, Life Ban Guy and of course everyone’s favourite crime-fighting administrator, Interpol Red Notice Guy. Here they come, the lads: a perfumed kerchief held to their noses, here to de-corrupt your football association.
Twelve years on the Samoa emergency committee is arguably one of the best jokes modern football has ever come up with. Just how abnormal do you have to be to require this degree of normalising? But then these were the golden years of footballing chicanery, when the yak-hide handbags flowed like wine and when Fifa could basically do as it wished.
The anomaly was that Samoa fought back. In a rare show of resistance the Samoan FA appealed to the court of arbitration for sport. It didn’t work. The appeal was rejected and the good times continued to roll at Fifa house, reaching a peak with the bribe-shadowed World Cup bid decisions that would prove an act of hubris even for that thoroughly debauched regime.
And so to the present day. Replace one bald, unctuous Swiss with a slightly younger bald, unctuous Swiss and something similar is happening in the Caribbean, a test case for where we may be heading in the struggle for the heart, soul and wallet of world football.
The Trinidad & Tobago FA experienced its own visit from the Fifa Normalisers in March after another shemozzle over debt. Like Samoa the TTFA has fought back. Another appeal has been lodged at Cas, this time via crowdfunded legal action.
Fifa’s move does seem bizarrely aggressive. The deposed TTFA committee had been in place for only four months, having seen off Gianni Infantino’s favoured candidate David John-Williams in a local vote.
The TTFA board member Keith Look Loy has accused Fifa of acting like “a colonial absentee landlord”. The former Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has called the intervention “a coup”. In an excellent twist the leader of the ousted rebel FA is even called William Wallace. They can take our lives but they’ll never take … our freebies.
Much has been made by the ancien régime of Look Loy and co’s historic association with the disgraced Jack Warner, once of the Samoan Normalisation Committee and now avoiding the US justice system.
Asked about rumours he might have lobbied for the Wallace campaign – something Wallace fiercely denies – Warner told the broadcaster Andre Errol Baptiste of Port of Spain-based i95.5fm: “Even if that was the case, and by the way that is not the case, and it means that is the beginning of the way to lift football in the country, so be it. What’s wrong with that?” Which pretty much clears that one up.
What is actually happening here? This might feel like a dispute at the edge of things, with plenty that is undesirable on both sides, but Fifa’s actions seem extraordinarily high-handed and patrician, even by its own standards, evidence of the increasing hawkishness of the Infantino regime. As the Norwegian Josimar website has pointed out the man in charge of all this normalisation is even one of Infantino’s best friends, his old university chum Véron Mosengo-Omba.
This matters right now. There is a great deal up for grabs a month into the total collapse of club football’s broadcast rights power base. This perhaps explains why Fifa’s public statements during the Covid-19 crisis have been almost alarmingly relaxed. Fifa may suspend all international football. Fifa may, we hear, dig into its Ł2bn cash fund to bail out clubs and leagues.
“Never let a serious crisis go to waste” is an overused line in the current uncertainty but you can bet Infantino has it inked on the back of his hand. Make no mistake Fifa has a great deal to gain at a time when every entity that has tried to resist its power, from Premier League to Uefa to the poor old TTFA, is significantly weakened.
The collapse of the Blatter-Warner-Platini era hit Fifa hard but not that hard. Money continued to flow but what Fifa really wants is power, most noticeably in its shadow-struggle with club football, where Infantino is convinced it is Fifa’s destiny to take a stronger role.
This seemed to be coming to a head late last year as Florentino Pérez presented a breakaway plan led by the richest clubs to cut out domestic leagues, with Fifa seemingly in close, approving pursuit.
APRIL - 2020
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EFA boss Edwards wants NC to return
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
Letter to TTFA Membership
On October 25, the membership of football in T&T will decide on the way forward for the sport, coming on the heels of the T&T Football Association’s (TTFA) triumph in the court, and a FIFA suspension that has caused tension among the football fraternity.
Following on a promise by TTFA president William Wallace, a letter was sent out to the membership for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that will have on the agenda, “The way Forward- FIFA Suspension”.
Keith Look Loy, the outspoken TTFA member who resigned on Friday, said the membership “will be faced with choices: to support the Wallace administration in its other legal battles (in the Appeal Court and in CAS): to call on Wallace to end the legal campaign: to call on him and the officers to resign or seek to remove them; to call on the government to amend Act 10 of 1982 to allow for FIFA intervention in TTFA governance; and to call on FIFA to enter T&T to exert control over TTFA”.
However, Kieron Edwards, president of the Eastern Football Association (EFA) of T&T, in an immediate response, called for there to be additions to the agenda, namely: the removal of the current TTFA executive which includes the presidents and all the vice presidents, and the immediate installation of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee to be the new executive.
To justify his claim, Edwards, the initiator of a petition that was designed to force the TTFA to drop the court matter against the FIFA a couple of months ago, outlined 11 reasons for his claim, including the fact that under the United TTFA, the country was suspended for the first time in its history.
Following the suspension on Republic Day, the FIFA issued a condition to which the TTFA can regain entry into football’s world membership and it includes - aligning its Statutes with that of the FIFA and totally dropping all court-related matters involving the FIFA.
Upon the suspension, the United TTFA instructed their attorneys to resume the court battle for leadership of TT football, challenge the suspension in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and filing an Injunctive Relief in the CAS. Since that on September 25, the TTFA was given a date of December 18 to meet the FIFA criteria if the suspension has to be lifted.
Edwards believes his call for the return of the normalisation committee, which was headed by businessman Robert Hadad, as well as the removal of the Wallace-led executive, will help achieve this.
Among the 11 reasons to justify Edwards’ claim, are:
JUSTIFICATIONS:
1. On September 24, 2020 (TTFA) has been suspended with immediate effect and until further notice by FIFA. Consequently, the TTFA loses all its membership right with immediate effect. TTFA representatives and club teams are therefore no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted. This also means that, as of September 24, 2020, neither the TTFA nor any of its members or officials may benefit from any development programmes, courses or training from FIFA or the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). This suspension was a result of Mr William Wallace instituting legal action against FIFA when the agreed procedure was to take the matter to CAS. This action also contravenes Article 15 part b of the TTFA constitution:
2. The president and his associates known as the United TTFA elected to take this action without seeking the approval of the board of directors or the members of TTFA and the action resulted in the suspension of TTFA and by extension T&T. The TTFA constitution states: “Article1 Name, headquarters, legal form one, the national football federation of the Republic of T&T shall be called the T&T Football Association (TTFA). TTFA is a private organisation of an associative nature in compliance with the relevant legislation of the Republic of T&T and incorporated by Act of Parliament (#17 of 1982). It is formed for an unlimited period. 2 Its headquarters is located in Port-of-Spain:
3. TTFA is a member of FIFA, CONCACAF and CFU. Therefore Mr Wallace and his associates known as the United TTFA has perpetuated the expulsion of the TTFA from FIFA through the violations of FIFA statutes and as such he as president has not upheld the constitution of TTFA and he should be removed:
4. FIFA has stipulated that the suspension of TTFA would only be removed if the current court case is withdrawn, the Normalisation Committed is recognised as the legitimate executive of TTFA and the current TTFA constitution is amended to agree with the FIFA constitution. Therefore, for the suspension to be lifted the current executive must be removed and the Normalisation Committee appointed as the new Executive of TTFA:
5. The TTFA constitution sites the reasons for the expulsion of a TTFA member. Article 15 states: “Expulsion 1 The general meeting may expel a Member if: a) fulfil to fulfill its financial obligations towards TTFA; b) it seriously violates the Statutes, regulations, directives or decisions of FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU and TTFA; c) it brings a dispute to an Ordinary Court, except in cases where the FIFA, CONCACAF or TTFA regulations or binding legal provisions specifically provide for or stipulate recourse to Ordinary Courts; 2 The presence of a majority (more than 50 per cent) of the members eligible to vote is necessary for an expulsion to be valid, and the motion for expulsion must be adopted by a three-quarter majority of the valid votes cast.” Therefore Mr Wallace and his associates known as the United TTFA are clearly in contravention of the TTFA constitution Article 15 parts b and c and can be expelled under these sections. 3:
(6) Mr Wallace has admitted freely in the press that he has signed multimillion-dollar contracts in excess of amounts approved by of the board of directors. He also admitted signing contracts that he specifically hid from the TTFA board Of Directors and this is clearly incompetence on the part of the president and he should be removed accordingly:
(7) Without the funding from FIFA, football in T&T would be greatly retarded with FIFA normally funding T&T national teams in international competitions. In addition, the government of T&T has also stated that if TTFA is suspended they would also withdraw their financial support for TTFA and local football. Therefore, TTFA cannot administer football in T&T without the financial support of FIFA and the government of T&T:
(8.) If the suspension by FIFA is not lifted then T&T would be unable to compete in the Gold Cup, World Cup and all other international football tournaments. In addition, our referees would be unable to officiate in international tournaments:
(9) The president and his associates known as the United TTFA have blatantly ignored the wishes of the members of TTFA as a significant majority of members have communicated informally with him to cease the court action and he has refused to do so:
(10) The Prime Minister and Minister of Sports have also tried to persuade Mr Wallace and his associates known as the United TTFA to cease their court action and to comply with the requests of FIFA but here too they have ignored the highest authority in T&T and so they must be removed in order for football to survive in our twin-island state:
(11) Mr Wallace has also failed to exercise his duties as president. Article 39 of the TTFA constitution states that the duties of the president are as follows: “President 1 - The president represents TTFA legally.
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Football membership wants NC return, executive ousted.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
T&T could be back in the fold of FIFA and be among the teams to contest the CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary rounds as well as the FIFA/CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers after all.
At least so it seems, from a consensus of the sport's membership, who is set for the October 25 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to lobby for the return of the Normalisation Committee, as well as the removal of the current football executive.
United T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace, despite their triumph in the High Court last week, has ensured that the membership will decide on the way forward for the sport.
Wallace on the I95.5FM Andre Baptiste programme on Saturday fended off a call by Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards for the agenda to include the removal of the current executive, as well as the return of the normalisation committee, which comprises businessmen Robert Hadad and Nigel Romano, and Attorney Judy Daniel, saying while the agenda cannot have any inclusions, the nature of the meeting would allow for any proposal.
The EFA boss in a document on Friday gave reasons why the proposition to bring back the normalisation committee and remove Wallace and his team of Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip was crucial and necessary. However, Wallace sought to clear the air, saying after the ruling on Tuesday last, they immediately proposed an agenda, date and time for the EGM to his Board members and nine out of 13 agreed.
He said initially seven members out of 13 agreed, which still represented a majority but subsequent to that, they got nine out of the 13 members that responded agreeing with the proposed date and agenda. He explained also that he spoke to Edwards about his proposal and explained that because the majority of the members had agreed to the agenda and date, there could be no additions to the agenda.
"However, what I indicated is that because of the nature of the agenda, it is broad as it is wide. It said to discuss the way forward, so that way forward can include as many things as is possible. If it means getting any impediments out of the way, that can be discussed. The meeting is scheduled for the 25th," Wallace said.
Attempts to make contact with Wallace, yesterday, proved futile.
Meanwhile, Richard Quan Chan, the Southern Football Association (SFA) president said the removal of the current executive and return of the normalisation committee has always been the obvious thing if T&T is to contest the qualifiers of both the CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifiers.
"This is what I got from the agenda- 'discussing the way forward'. Once we accept the normalisation committee and allow it to do what FIFA wants, including sorting out the TTFA Statutes and bring it in line with that of FIFA, we should be back as a FIFA member and back in the qualifiers," said Quan Chan, who dismissed the ruling of High Court Justice Carol Gobin to recognise the United TTFA as the legitimate body to manage T&T football.
"One of my major concerns with Justice Gobin was her being emotional by seeing FIFA's challenge as one that was pushing aside the law of the country and pushing her aside as an individual, as opposed to her ruling on the basis of the Law and the Statutes."
Monday, the Court of Appeal is expected to hear an appeal from FIFA over Gobin’s jurisdiction to hear the case.
FIFA will not have any defence, as it did in the High Court last week but football pundits are saying it will be precedence if the Appellate judges will overturn the ruling of the High Court.
Quan Chan said he lost confidence in the Wallace-led administration with the contracts of national coach Terry Fenwick, marketing representative Peter Miller, general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, the Avec Sports deal and the Lavender/Arima Velodrome initiative.
Meanwhile, Jamaal Shabazz, coach and owner of T&T Pro League outfit Morvant Caledonia United said for the country to have a future we must return to FIFA.
He believes that discussion has to be held on the propose addition to the agenda, noting that with the diverse views and antagonism among the fraternity for the future of the sport, there must find a pathway going forward.
"Though I may have differing views to Wallace and company, I am still willing to discuss with them a reason why T&T must return to the fold of FIFA," said Shabazz.
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Disillusionment
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express).
So let’s say come next Sunday’s emergency meeting the vote, as is expected, goes overwhelmingly against William Wallace and his executive.
Let’s say they resign en masse in response, then next Monday morning Robert Hadad gets an email from general secretary Fatma Samoura reinstating the normalisation committee, returning him as the interim head of the game here, welcoming the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as a member of the global football family once more, which means the money starts flowing again from Zurich.
And just to ensure such an excommunication never happens again, the members of the shameless, disgraceful organisation known as the PNM and the unelectably corrupt, arrogant institution that is the UNC come together to amend the relevant legislation so that in future, when it comes to football, we remain forever subservient to the will of FIFA but apparently more importantly, part of the global game.
After all that, what? Football in this country will be on a progressive track thereafter? And I suppose you believe in Santa Claus too, or that there is no police and soldier cover-up in the Drugs Sou Sou.
To be clear, if it were to transpire that — miracle of miracles — the Wallace executive gets a vote of confidence to continue the legal wrangle with FIFA, then it will just be a different version of the same bacchanal, because unauthorised alterations to contracts for coach Terry Fenwick and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, along with the re-floating of the ubiquitous marketing man Peter Miller, together with one or two other questionable deals mean Wallace on his own may struggle to survive this latest episode of turbulence in the nation’s most popular sport.
There is ample evidence across more than four decades (and no doubt even further back for those with the knowledge and memories to recall) to confirm that football governance here is an accurate reflection of the greed, corruption and, at best, misdirected priorities which define life in this twin-island republic.
So warped in our thinking are we that even historic experiences of unprecedented national unity and fervour under the umbrella of the beautiful game — from the 1989 “Road to Italy” campaign to the Germany 2006 experience to a full house at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in December 2014 supporting the women’s bid for World Cup glory — disintegrate into bitterness and acrimony in the obscene scramble for money and influence.
Sorry, it’s obscene for countries with a culture of transparency and accountability. Here, crabs in a barrel behaviour is normal, normal. Maybe it’s wrong to just give up, to believe that our experiences will forever be a recycling of the consequences of an absence of integrity with only dates and names changed. But where is the hope, or more precisely, what is the hope based on?
This disconcerting disconnection from reality extends across the region. Just last Tuesday I was involved in a discussion on West Indies cricket on commentator Andrew Mason’s radio show in his native Barbados, focussing on the squad to be selected and the team’s chances on the tour of New Zealand.
Just listening to the tenor of the dialogue you would think that the generally routine act of naming 15 players for the campaign was the start of a new era in the Caribbean game, as if picking so-and-so player or players will magically repair 25 years of struggle in Tests. One contributor even prefaced his opening statement by suggesting gone are the days when the West Indies went to New Zealand and regularly trounced their opponents 4-0 or 5-0, which is as disconnected from reality as you can get because that has never happened even once.
Look, I get that this all sounds very negative (and I am by nature a pessimist) but if someone can point to something real – something beyond “hoping” and “thinking positive” – upon which to base optimism then I would be happy to listen.
Maybe it’s a combination of advancing years and experiencing the same blimming thing over and over and over again, but impatience at seemingly perpetual outrage after outrage is intensifying. Outrage like racism, outrage like sanitising cheating, which have contributed to a decision to ease away from supporting Liverpool after 43 years and to make last Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Everton as the final English Premier League game I will actually sit down to watch in its entirety.
Space is running out today but suffice it to say that, in the context of the greater awareness brought on by the “Black Lives Matter” movement, Liverpool Football Club’s history of racism when combined with contemporary and broader football issues like players faking injuries and fouls, and the intrusion of VAR technology, make Liverpool and the EPL only worthy of occasional interest now.
Sport should be about joy, not constant controversy.
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Disillusionment
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express).
So let’s say come next Sunday’s emergency meeting the vote, as is expected, goes overwhelmingly against William Wallace and his executive.
Let’s say they resign en masse in response, then next Monday morning Robert Hadad gets an email from general secretary Fatma Samoura reinstating the normalisation committee, returning him as the interim head of the game here, welcoming the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as a member of the global football family once more, which means the money starts flowing again from Zurich.
And just to ensure such an excommunication never happens again, the members of the shameless, disgraceful organisation known as the PNM and the unelectably corrupt, arrogant institution that is the UNC come together to amend the relevant legislation so that in future, when it comes to football, we remain forever subservient to the will of FIFA but apparently more importantly, part of the global game.
Why do these idiotic journalist keep using sports to propagate their bias political agendas? In our age of freedom of expression it appears that we also have a freedom of stupidity.
While ones opinions are just that it seems highly insidious to categorize political entities as " shameless and disgraceful" based on what empirical data?
Should a journalist not keep to the facts and focus on the essential issues rather than speculate on hypothetical political involvement? Unless of course that the said writer of the articlle is submitting his opinions as a letter to the editor as opposed to a trained journalist?
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Crowne suggests how TTFA could ‘normalise’ itself; as court of appeal enters fray.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
High court judge Carol Gobin has run her leg of the legal impasse between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and global governing body Fifa. Today, the court of appeal judges Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Nolan Bereaux took the baton.
“The TTFA originally did not have a problem with going to CAS—you were accepting that that was the proper framework that governed your arrangement,” the chief justice told TTFA attorney Dr Emir Crowne, at one point. “It is when Fifa refused to pay costs that you said ‘we feel we are unfairly treated and therefore Fifa has denied us access to arbitration’—which is what you wanted.
“So that question is relevant to whether or not the local court will assume jurisdiction [of this case]. What we are asking you is if that is no longer Fifa’s position [and the governing body pays its upfront fees and lifts the TTFA’s international suspension], does any objection remain to [returning to] CAS?”
The prospect added a new potential twist to the tumultuous relationship between the two parties. But it was not an altogether novel offer.
Fifa first attempted to entice the TTFA back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland on 6 July when it suggested mediation talks for the first and only time—an offer that was rescinded with hours due, according to a Fifa release, ‘to the failure of the lawyers of United TTFA to keep the matter confidential, in line with their professional and ethical obligations’.
(Crowne shared word of the offer with TV6 within hours of it being made.)
The TTFA’s legal team also comprises Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul. Fifa is represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.
The TTFA are in court because president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were removed by Fifa on 13 March and replaced by a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee. The global body eventually suspended the TTFA on 24 September for failure to withdraw the case within its deadline.
However, when the two parties appeared before Justice Gobin for the first time on 29 July, Hamel-Smith formally suggested that Fifa was willing to pay its upfront share of the arbitration fees at CAS—as a sweetener for the TTFA to return to the Swiss body.
And Crowne’s response then?
The TTFA attorney told the high court it ‘will be sending the TTFA back to an unfair forum’ if it ordered its return to CAS, and that forum non conveniens (the court’s discretion to decide which forum is better suited to hear a case) ought to determine that Trinidad is the right venue for the dispute.
“How is a body of non-Trinidad nationals the best forum to decide whether [Fifa’s] appointment of this normalisation committee in accordance with Trinidad law or not?” Crowne asked the high court, as he claimed that the TTFA Constitution was the first applicable rule book before one sought to determine whether Fifa was right to intervene.
Crowne’s response at the court of appeal today was quite different.
“That is a fair question, chief justice,” said Crowne. “If the suspension of the TTFA is withdrawn and the normalisation committee is reappointed, and Fifa said ‘we are going to pay our half of the arbitration share’; then I think our arguments fall away. And then the CAS remains the forum for the resolution of this dispute.”
It would not be the only example of a marked change in the tone of the legal proceedings, as Archie and Bereaux appeared more open to points that Gobin rejected outright.
For instance, Hamel-Smith claimed, via an affidavit from Swiss attorney Miguel Lietard Palacios, that the TTFA’s serving of court documents to Fifa by email was not permissible under Article (11) of the Swiss Federal Act, and therefore unlawful.
Gobin was fairly curt.
“The expert evidence contained in Mr Lietard’s affidavit is, in any case, inadmissible hearsay opinion evidence and I consider it to be insufficient to establish what the law is on service of process in Switzerland,” said Gobin. “The opinion is attributed to an attorney within Fifa’s litigation department who failed to file an affidavit.
“In the circumstances, I find no irregularity in the manner in which service was effected.”
Archie suggested that the manner of service does indeed matter and noted that: ‘service by email is substituted service; if it is personal service it cannot be by email’.
The chief justice pointed to the 2016 court of appeal case between Magistrate Marissa Gomez and Brent Nunes, in which the latter was found to have improperly served the appellant. Justices Allan Mendonça, Gregory Smith, and Prakash Moosai declared service of the claim form to be ‘an essential step in the proceedings’.
Crowne responded with a quote from the same case as well.
“It also says the second purpose [of service] is to enable the defendant to participate in the process,” said Crowne. “The philosophy behind service was not in any way impaired by our service by email.”
Crowne noted that Dr Claude Denbow SC gave notice of appearance for Fifa on 26 May and ‘in that notice, he said he received claim form and so on’.
“That in itself does not constitute waiver of improper service,” said Archie.
Crowne suggested again that by not filing an objection, Denbow had essentially waived the issue. (Although Denbow was replaced by Hamel-Smith before the matter got to the high court and the latter attorney made a case for improper service in his first pleading.)
Archie asked Crowne whether his entire defence rested on the fact Denbow did not immediately raise the issue of service when he filed a notice of appearance.
“It suggests waiver by him not making it,” said Crowne. “[…] The waiver was made by the initial counsel for Fifa in our respectful view.”
“The answer to that is either yes or no,” Archie retorted. “[…] You need to decide what your position is, and it would be helpful if you can back that up with some authority.”
Crowne noted that in the case cited by the chief justice, Nunes had not served Gomez at all. This matter, he said, was different.
“Without something more, it does operate as a waiver,” said Crowne.
“If you come across any authority on that,” said Archie, “please let us have it.”
Hamel-Smith, from the onset, appeared intent on making the most of the change of environment in his tussle with the TTFA.
“Our first position is […] CAS has the sole jurisdiction,” he said. “We say this respectfully—and this is a point that we think, with respect to the judge below, she didn’t understand. She thought we are saying that Fifa is outside the laws of Trinidad and Tobago; we are not saying any such thing.
“[…] Constitutionally, the TTFA voluntarily imposed upon itself an obligation, which is consistent with the Fifa statutes, that it would only pursue disputes of this nature before a particular forum which happens to be the CAS.
“[…] It doesn’t put itself above the law. It simply says that if a dispute arises between a member association and Fifa, then that dispute […] will be decided by the CAS.”
Well, Archie asked, in what circumstances would the local courts have jurisdiction in disputes between the TTFA and Fifa?
Hamel-Smith said that he would ‘get to that question’ in two steps. He never did address it, though. Instead, he pivoted back to his initial point and insisted that the TTFA imposed the contentious restriction upon itself.
“It is clear that parliament has given the TTFA the chance to make and amend its own rules and constitution,” said Hamel-Smith. “What they can’t do is simply ignore the terms of their own constitution and say they will do it anyway. They will have to first amend their constitution to remove that stipulation.”
There was no push-back from the chief justice.
“So before you accuse Fifa of breaking the rules, you ought to do it in a way that follows yours?” asked Archie.
“It goes further than that,” said Hamel-Smith. “We are saying you have the absolute right to hold Fifa to the law, but you do that in one of two ways: either by going to CAS; or you can change your own constitution.
“But what you cannot do is claim to be above or beyond your own constitution. I think that really is the knob of the debate on this most fundamental of points.”
Crowne countered that the Fifa’s statutes said member associations ‘shall insert a clause to give the CAS jurisdiction’ and there was nothing voluntary about it. As such, he interpreted it as an attempt by Fifa to ‘oust entirely the court’s jurisdiction’.
Gobin, famously, made much of the fact that the TTFA is incorporated by an Act of Parliament and was a de facto statutory body that could not or ought not to submit to the whims of a foreign entity. Gayle invited Archie and Bereaux an opportunity to follow suit.
“I don’t mean to cut across Dr Crowne,” said Gayle, as he sought to explain the difference between the TTFA’s two CAS appeals. “[…] Certainly the entirety of that external interference with an internal process of what is, by our submission, a statutory body must be subject to the courts of Trinidad and Tobago…”
The chief justice interrupted.
CJ: Before you go ahead, what is the significance of ‘incorporated by statute’? Because that does not by itself make a body a public body. And I know some discussion seems to have centred on that in the judgment.
What was the TTFA from 1964 to when it was incorporated by statute? What difference does the incorporation by statute make to the nature of the body and the business in which it was engaged? Was it subject to Fifa Statute between 1964 to 1982?
Gayle: I don’t have that [before me], and I don’t know that that’s a matter before your lordship…
CJ: I ask the question because there is a lot of harping on the fact that it was incorporated by statute; so were the girl guides and the boy scouts and several churches in Trinidad and Tobago. Remember this is a private member’s bill eh; this is not a governmental function. Please explain to us what significance ‘incorporation by statute’ has.
Gayle: It is twofold … The TTFA is a public body…
CJ (interrupts): No … The fact that you are incorporated by statute is not determinative of anything of the sort.
Gayle: […] Whether it is a statutory body or not may not be material … Section four and eight of the Act gives statutory footing to the TTFA constitution and sets out that there needs to be an election process [to change the executive]. We are saying you cannot overcome this statutory…
CJ: If the Act gives effect to the [TTFA] Constitution, then what does the Constitution say about whether Fifa can do what it did? If the parliament by an Act permits something, how can you say it is done it is contrary to public policy?
Gayle: It is the other way around; the Act gives life to the Constitution…
CJ: I don’t think you understand my question… If parliament passes an Act that says this is permissible and you may craft your constitution in line with ‘the Fifa system’, then if the constitution is crafted in line with the Fifa system, why are you saying that is contrary to public policy?
Gayle: The provision my lordship is referring to, section three of the Act; that is drafted in deliberately general terms… You can’t take an action that is contrary to the wording of the statutes.
CJ: Your submission is changing. First, you are saying it is contrary to public policy; now you are saying it is contrary to the Statutes. Which is it?
Gayle: My lord. Dr Crowne was making submissions under the public policy…
CJ: But you are on the same side.
Gayle admitted that the TTFA Constitution accepts the Fifa Statutes ‘carte blanche’ but dug his heels in that the only way it explicitly states an executive can be removed is via an election.
If the TTFA signed up for Fifa rule, seemed to be Archie’s question, then isn’t what comes with it the business of the local football body? Didn’t the 1982 Act of parliament suggest that the government of the day, led by Prime Minister George Chambers, was happy for Fifa and the TTFA to simply get on with their affairs?
Crowne suggested that the issue of arbitration was now a moot point in light of Fifa’s suspension of the TTFA and the closure of the normalisation committee. It drew incredulous responses from the Appeal judges. If the situation was rendered moot by that, they asked, then why did the high court grant a declaration?
Crowne suggested that Gobin’s verdict was on the rule of law in respect to what Fifa was allowed to do as a result of its statutes and the TTFA’s Constitution.
CJ: Did you ask for a declaration of the lawfulness of Fifa Statutes?
Crowne: No.
CJ: How did that get in the case then? At what point? Where did that come from?
Crowne: It arose because it was a question of if [the normalisation committee] could be appointed, based on what the TTFA Act said; and whether that committee can then usurp an elected body … That is how that issue came to play.
Archie said ‘alright’ but did not sound satisfied.
Bereaux: If we rule that the case should have gone to CAS and we throw everything out—including Justice Gobin’s judgment—what then?
Crowne replied that Fifa, by suspending the TTFA while its own appeal was pending, had frustrated the matter.
Bereaux: So this court shouldn’t act?
Crowne: Yes, the court should act to preserve its own processes.
The court of appeal judges did not seem altogether convinced.
Fifa did not escape scotch free though. Crowne said Fifa and CAS together ‘designed a scheme’ that priced the TTFA and other small associations from being able to afford justice. which was ‘unconscionable’.
Hamel-Smith admitted that the global body breached the arbitration policy by not paying its share of fees—even when asked to do so by CAS. However, he argued that it was ‘not sufficient to disenfranchise Fifa’.
Justice Bereaux charged that Fifa had not so gallantly left a cash-strapped member association with the ‘onerous burden’ of paying both their arbitration fees, having frozen its funding to boot.
Hamel-Smith noted that there was legal aid available. Justice Bereaux suggested that the TTFA did not want to hear about that because it felt CAS showed bias.
“This is the court that is supposed to be the arbiter of the dispute, that is not applying its rules properly,” said Justice Bereaux, who noted that CAS did not explicitly offer the option of funding to the TTFA. “You look at it and say ‘is this the court that I am forced to go to?’ Is [the TTFA] entitled to go to a tribunal that appears not to be fair and […] not to be is it bound to that same arbitration agreement?”
Hamel-Smith suggested that, if the TTFA was unhappy with the conduct of CAS, it ought to go the Swiss courts.
“Like every arbitration tribunal, [CAS] is controlled by the court at the seat of the tribunal,” he said. “[…] If you felt that there was going to be some bias, then your remedy is in relation to the seat of that arbitration tribunal.”
“Why not in Trinidad?” asked Justice Bereaux.
Hamel-Smith repeated the relevance of the Swiss Federal Court.
“So the short point is the Trinidad courts are excluded by that?” asked Justice Bereaux.
“The short point is once the TTFA has not amended its constitution,” said Hamel-Smith, “it has committed itself to CAS.”
Would the court of appeal rule that Fifa’s breach before CAS was sufficiently grievous to justify the TTFA’s approach to the high court? Or is the TTFA obliged to follow its own constitution, come what may?
The TTFA was given the option to return to CAS, once Fifa agreed to lift the suspension, and Crowne did not appear averse to it—although there is still the matter of finding 20,000 Swiss francs (TT$150,000) to do so.
And this is if the TTFA’s member delegates agree, in Sunday’s extraordinary general meeting, that such an exercise is a worthwhile use of time and money. (Thus far, Wallace has not used funds from the local football body.)
Walker noted a barrier to the suggested return to CAS on the matter of the normalisation committee
“There is an injunction that prevents us from reintroducing a normalisation committee,” said Walker.
“I see what you mean; it would also involve a concession on the part of the [TTFA],” said Archie. “Hence my concern that this trial went ahead before the appeal. But that is water under the bridge…”
Crowne offered a solution.
“In relation to what Mr Walker has said, I am mindful of a suggestion that perhaps is a way to resolve this impasse,” he said. “The Act speaks to an election of the general council and the normalisation committee might be at odds with that…
“If suspension was undone by Fifa and Fifa ‘renormalise’; could [the TTFA’s general body] vote to allow the normalisation committee then? […] Perhaps Fifa will lift the suspension and propose to normalise and we can take that issue on an expedited basis to CAS.”
The TTFA’s attorney was offering suggestions as to how the local body could effectively ‘normalise’ itself. The tide appeared to have turned.
“Well that is something for you and the other side to work out between yourselves,” said the chief justice, “but we are happy that the parties are prepared to work something out.”
Perhaps fittingly, Hamel-Smith helped himself to the closing words.
“My learned friend Dr Crowne uses this expression where he talks about an entirely foreign body, entirely under foreign law will decide and this cannot be consistent with public policy,” said Hamel-Smith. “I just want to emphasise this, my words, paranoia about it being a foreign body under foreign law is inappropriate. This is an arbitral process set up between parties who are located in different parts of the world; this is the nature of the organisation … Foreign law does not equal somehow being against public policy.
“And it wouldn’t be entirely under foreign law … Tribunals receive evidence of domestic law and apply domestic law in a wide variety of circumstances.
“[…] I also don’t see how this can be moot. There are binding declarations, some of which are broader than were even asked for… We are saying that if we are right, those declarations were instituted in proceedings that were not properly instituted in the first place. Those declarations must go.”
There was the suggestion by the Court of Appeal that Fifa had rigged its judicial system to deny its own member association of justice. It is a serious charge that questions the fairness of the controversial CAS clause. But after Gobin’s electric assertions, it felt like an anticlimax.
Even with the possibility that Fifa would open the door for the TTFA’s return to CAS, it is unlikely that Wallace and his team could afford to go through it—even at half-price.
At this stage, it is uncertain what scenario the TTFA’s 47 member delegates will have before them to discuss at their EGM this Sunday.
Editor’s Note: Below article is TTFA president William Wallace’s response to the offer to return to CAS - 20-Oct-2020).
‘That’s it!’ Wallace rules out return to CAS and says fight is over; criticises Fifa breach
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace said today that their legal fight with Fifa has reached to its end game, with the local football body set to reject an invitation to return to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Yesterday, TTFA attorney Dr Emir Crowne told Chief Justice Ivor Archie that his client would return to CAS if Fifa withdrew its international suspension and proposed normalisation once more. Wallace said he understood Crowne’s legal argument before the court of appeal, but he and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor and Sam Phillip believe the suggestion is a non-starter.
“Our attorney was put into that position based on the questions put to him by the judges,” Wallace told Wired868. “But for me—and this will be discussed with the lawyers—we have reached the point where we think we have done enough, and that’s it.
“Going back to CAS is not an option; even financially we have used up all the money.”
Wallace, his vice-presidents, and the TTFA Board of Directors were removed from their respective posts on 13 March, when the Bureau of the Fifa Council, headed by president Gianni Infantino, declared that it had appointed a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago—due to the poor financial state of the local body.
The TTFA’s elected officers initially filed with CAS but made an acrimonious departure in May, after complaining of ‘inherent bias’. Since then, even Fifa attorney Christopher Hamel-Smith SC admitted that his client breached CAS’ rules by refusing to pay its fees upfront. It was an infraction that its fellow Swiss-based body facilitated.
Fifa’s refusal to follow the rules of the arbitral body led CAS to ask the cash-strapped TTFA to pay upfront fees for both parties, at a cost of 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$300,000).
The world governing body eventually offered to pay its share, if the TTFA returned to CAS, during high court proceedings. However, the local body rejected the proposal.
Crowne informed the court of appeal that they might be minded to have a rethink. However, Wallace said it was too late now.
“For Fifa to offer that now is an attempt to make themselves look good,” said Wallace. “We have had enough of this; this has gone on long enough. It is time to come to the end of what we have started.
“For Fifa not to follow the rules of its own process shows the kind of organisation it is. I will like to find the suitable word to describe them but it might not be suitable for print. (Laughs.)
“This is their process, you started it, and yet you refused to abide by the rules. We would not have gone to the high court if they [paid their share] from the start. This thing might have been over a long ago.”
On 13 October, Madame Justice Carol Gobin ruled in the high court that Fifa’s normalisation committee was invalid and its removal of Wallace was done in ‘bad faith’.
“On the evidence, I find that the decision to activate the normalisation was improper and made in bad faith,” stated Gobin. “The conclusion that it was a contrivance to subvert the outcome of the November 24th elections is in my view inescapable. In the end it defeated the will of the persons who had elected the new board into office.
“In the circumstances Fifa’s claim that it remains neutral in matters of politics (within the sport) is demonstrated to be patently false.”
Gobin’s decision could potentially be voided on Friday evening, if court of appeal judges Archie and Nolan Bereaux rule that Trinidad and Tobago did not have jurisdiction to hear the case in the first place. However, Wallace said he will continue to be comforted by the decision of the high court—no matter what Archie and Bereaux say.
The retired Carapichaima East Secondary vice-principal said all he ever wanted was the chance to be heard on the perceived wrong done to him. He feels Gobin gave him that opportunity when it appeared to be too expensive or onerous to get it elsewhere.
“Whatever happens after the high court is an anticlimax,” said Wallace. “Fate happened to decide that the matter was heard before it went to the appeal court, and that was enough for me. I always wanted a chance to be heard and fate had it that I was heard at the high court, and I am happy with that.
“I think what we set out to achieve was achieved. Basically, we are at a point where we don’t expect much more than where we have gotten to.”
Wallace remains committed to chairing the TTFA’s extraordinary general meeting on Sunday, however he did not offer any clues on his future within the local game beyond that.
Apart from his own vindication by the high court, Wallace hopes Fifa’s 211 member associations pay attention to the governing body’s conduct in this affair: from its sketchy reasoning for normalisation and the open-ended justification of ‘exceptional circumstances’ that Infantino used to attack the TTFA, straight to its refusal to follow CAS rules and decision to suspend the twin island republic while Fifa’s own appeal was in the court.
“It is unfortunate that an international organisation that espouses these lofty ideals of fair play would treat with its nations in this way and not cooperate with a process that it directs all members to sign up to,” said Wallace. “It showed up Fifa clearly; and it shows that if they want to frustrate a member that they can do that at any point in time. I hope our actions will have helped such things to come to the fore and international bodies can zone in on that. If so, our actions would not have been in vain.
“[…] I don’t think that the football fraternity should continue to accept those things. I think this is [something] for the membership to look at in terms of the Fifa processes going forward.”
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:thumbsup:
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Fifa, “Guilty As Charged.” This MUST be the turning point for Fifa and CAS.
arsenalfcnews.co.uk
As reported by Josimar, the judge said Fifa had made “a mockery of the proceedings” and that the installation of a “normalisation” group to take over football in Trinidad and Tobago was unreasonable.
The argument was that Fifa had allowed what one might call erratic financial mismanagement to continue under its watch, and Fifa audits did nothing to sort out the issue. Thus the claim that Fifa helped TTFA gets its accounts in order and hold new elections was less than credible.
In short the judge concluded, that the “normalisation order” was “a contrivance to subvert the outcome of the [TTFA] November 24th elections… Fifa’s claim that it remains neutral in matters of politics (within the sport) is demonstrated to be patently false”.
The Trinidad and Tobago FA admitted that it had not proceeded properly but was putting its house in order. Fifa, they argued, was punishing the association because as part of its take over of the association Fifa had put in power David John-Williams, whom Josimar calls “a key ally of Gianni Infantino in the region”.
But the judge was not finished for as Josimar continues, “Throughout the proceedings Fifa has… demonstrated a disregard for the rule of law”.
Now Fifa find itself in a bind. Fifa regards the courts of its individual members to be below itself – it is the Supreme Ruler of All Matters Football. As such it would not dirty its hands by defending itself in a trial in Trinidad and Tobago, because Fifa, as the supreme entity, is not subject to the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.
Certainly the FA of Trinidad and Tobago have shown far more strength of character than the English FA which has endlessly bowed down in craven tribute to Fifa – even when it became aware that the last world cup for which the FA bid (using as we alone have noted many time, taxpayers money), was fixed.
(There is also the issue of the next world cup being held in stadia built by slave labour, and our hope that “Black Lives Matter” might take up that issue, but that movement seems curiously silent on the subject, so we’ll leave that for a moment).
Supported by newspaper journalists whose prime interest is getting tickets so they can go and watch football matches for free and stay in splendid hotels at sponsors’ expense, no criticism of Fifa will ever reach the eyes and ears of those interested in the sport in England.
But now they might have to, because as Josimar is pointing out, “TTFA v. FIFA” is being seen as a test case. And it is happening just as Fifa itself is on trial in Switzerland.
The question has always been, is it reasonable for a self-appointed sports body to be above the laws of the land of the country in which it holds court?
For if Fifa is the first and last arbiter of all decisions, all the associations within Fifa bow down to its rules. This is what we see in England, and because the FA is funded by the state, we, the taxpayers, end up keeping this autocratic dictatorship in power and can’t stop the FA handing over vast amounts of our money to Fifa.
Now as Josimar points out, it has been shown in a high court that even Fifa’s dictatorship has a limit to its powers – it cannot override primary legislation in the country of one of its members. Thus finally it is established that (in the case of England) the FA is subject to the laws of England primarily, not to the laws of Fifa. That should always have been obvious (given that the FA is funded by grants from government, which itself is funded by the taxpayer). Now it has been set out.
The FA has been shown to be subject to British law – as when the Charity Commissioners slaughtered it over the FA’s abject failure to keep proper records of the money it claimed it was giving away as a result of the “Charity Shield”. It’s response was simply to avoid the issue by renaming the competition to “Community Shield”. Repeated requests from Untold Arsenal to the FA asking for detail of where the money from that competition went to, remained unanswered.
Fifa was shown to be subject to Swiss law in 2015 (you might recall our article from 22 January of that year to which I have alluded in the past: Switzerland take a greater interest in Fifa – at last)
As we reported there was at that point a “change to the law in Switzerland, which allows the authorities to scrutinise bank accounts held by sporting governing bodies and their leaders.” What I got wrong was that I predicted that Fifa would follow the IOC which had immediately moved its 2017 vote on Olympic venues to Peru. Fifa thought it was above everything, carried on in Switzerland, and the arrests followed.
But what now? Fifa clearly can claim that all disputes go through Fifa. But it’s leader is being charged with corruption in a Swiss court. And as Trinidad and Tobago has shown, if the FA of a country is instituted within the law of that country, then that football association is subject to the law of country, NOT the law of Fifa. Meanwhile the cases in Switzerland are showing that Fifa officials are subject to the law of Switzerland, not the law of Fifa.
But now here’s a wonderful thought which Josimar has come up with. If this is the case then the Court of Arbitration for Sport is “not the only legitimate recourse for a member of Fifa which was involved in a dispute with the governing body.” Nor indeed for members of Uefa. Something which might interest Manchester City.
Because again as Josimar says, “To say otherwise would be to accept that Fifa could overrule an Act of Parliament; and to accept that would be to surrender national sovereignty.” Because that course of action means that Fifa is a law unto itself, and the Swiss courts are currently very busy showing that this is not the case, and will not be allowed to be the case.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the turning point.
Chaos in Europe, silence in England
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Corneal, Sherwood set for FIFA's NC appointment
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Anton Corneal, a former T&T Football Association Technical Director and Anthony Sherwood, a former national midfielder now turn coach, are set to join the sport's world governing body FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, a Board member of the T&TFA has revealed on Friday.
The two are expected to be the ones with sporting knowledge on a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, a director of the HADCO Group of Companies and former banker Nigel Romano and attorney Judy Daniel, who is the deputy chairman of the committee.
When contacted Corneal told Guardian Media Sports that he was unaware of this, but noted, if the FIFA or the normalisation committee believe he can be of any assistance, then he will be willing to serve.
When FIFA announced the names of the people on the normalisation committee on March 27, it said two others members were to be appointed jointly by the FIFA and the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). However, the appointments appeared to have been delayed by the legal wranglings between FIFA and the T&TFA, over the legitimacy of the normalisation committee appointment on March 11, and whether the matter could have been settled in the local courts in T&T, or the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, where all FIFA disputes are settled.
FIFA in a release on March 11 said: "The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the T&T Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with Art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA. The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently."
The mandate of the normalisation committee is: To run the TTFA'S daily affairs; To establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress, and To organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
Corneal, who was forced to take legal action against the TTFA for wages owed to him, could be a perfect fit for the appointment, another TTFA Board member believes, as he has worked with the FIFA for the past five years helping countries design their technical departments, with coaches' education and with their long-term development.
The Board member said Corneal, who works with the FIFA as a consultant, may easily be hired on the normalisation committee, instead of having him work as a consultant and still appoint him on the normalisation committee also.
Sherwood yesterday could not be reached as calls to his cell phone went unanswered.
Guardian Media Sports was told also that FIFA has been in search of two former players to be put into the positions.
In addition to Corneal and Sherwood, other names such as Densill Theobald, a former national midfielder who represented the country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and Bertille St Clair, an ex-national football coach, who has been battling with health issues, were also being considered, the board member said.
Guardian Media Sports also sought to contact Hadad for a comment, but calls to his phone went unanswered.
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Corneal, Sherwood set for FIFA's NC appointment
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Anton Corneal, a former T&T Football Association Technical Director and Anthony Sherwood, a former national midfielder now turn coach, are set to join the sport's world governing body FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, a Board member of the T&TFA has revealed on Friday.
The two are expected to be the ones with sporting knowledge on a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, a director of the HADCO Group of Companies and former banker Nigel Romano and attorney Judy Daniel, who is the deputy chairman of the committee.
When contacted Corneal told Guardian Media Sports that he was unaware of this, but noted, if the FIFA or the normalisation committee believe he can be of any assistance, then he will be willing to serve.
...
Unaware, huh? :)
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All I got to say is, Be careful what you wish (fight) for you might get it!
Now we will see what it is like to fight for injustice and prefer your oppressor because hes too big & has the money.
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The Normalization Committee need not have technically-capacitated members.
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50% pay for football coaches before Xmas
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).
THE normalisation committee is now offering to pay national football coaches 50 per cent of what they are owed, going against what was agreed upon according to one former national youth coach.
Approximately 40 T&T coaches have not been paid since the normalisation committee was formed by FIFA to run local football in March.
The normalisation committee is led by local businessman Robert Hadad.
National senior men’s coach Terry Fenwick is one of the coaches affected by the delay of the salary disbursement. Wayne Sheppard, Angus Eve, Clayton Morris and Richard Hood are some of the other coaches who are owed outstanding salaries.
The coaches owed include head coaches, assistant coaches, managers, goalkeeper coaches and physiotherapists in national senior and junior teams.
Sheppard, Eve, Hood, Morris and Jefferson George are also part of the Coaches Steering Committee.
Sheppard said the normalisation committee recently told the coaches that they won’t be paid the full amount.
“The payment as agreed by Mr Hadad was for 50 per cent to be paid up front and the remaining 50 per cent for us to receive a letter of comfort stating that that payment would be honoured at a later date.”
The coaches, however, understood that they would receive all the money owed to them in one payment and not a percentage of that.
“We did not agree to anything else,” Sheppard said.
Sheppard said the coaches are hopeful that they would receive a Christmas gift in their bank accounts.
“As far as discussions with the normalisation committee, we were updated that the monies are in fact in the country and they are working feverishly to see if they could pay it today (Monday), worst case before Christmas. That is the situation as it goes right now…so we waiting to see if that really comes to fruition.”
Sheppard is the former assistant coach of the T&T Under-15 boys team. Sheppard added, “As I have said from the beginning, I have no doubt that we will be paid, (it) is just a matter of when it will happen.”
The coaches are owed money for various times. For example, the Under-15 and Under-17 boys coaches are owed money for the period February 2020 to August 2020. The coaches have been at loggerheads with the normalisation committee for months.
On August 25, more than 20 national coaches claimed they were barred from delivering a document concerning outstanding salaries at the TT Football Association (TTFA) head office at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.
Eve told Newsday most of the coaches were not allowed to enter the compound, except for a few coaches who arrived early.
Two days later, the normalisation committee said it was not intentionally delaying payments to coaches and also said that the Ato Boldon Stadium was closed to prevent the spread of covid19. The compound includes the Home of Football, which at the time was being used as a step down facility to fight the virus.
At a media conference, on September 4, at Fatima Grounds, in Mucurapo, days after meeting with the normalisation committee, the coaches said the discussions concerning the salaries were cordial.
Representing the coaches at the media conference were Sheppard, Eve, Morris and Hood.
Newsday attempted to contact Hadad, but was unsuccessful.
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The Hadad era: has normalisation committee become a threat to T&T football?
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
“America won’t have [Christian] Pulisic, so it will be an easy game,” Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) acting general secretary Amiel Mohammed supposedly told a football insider, as he bragged about the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee’s coup in securing a friendly match against Concacaf giants, the United States.
Mohammed could not be reached for comment, and neither confirmed nor denied the anecdote. His aloofness is totally in sync with his current employer.
Eleven months have passed since the Bureau of the Fifa Council named Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano as its normalisation committee members on the twin island republic. And it is more than four months since the TTFA membership ceded power to the trio.
In that time, Hadad, the chairman, not only failed to hold a single national press conference to share his vision for the role, but he is yet to conduct a solitary general meeting to consult with football stakeholders.
Arrogance and an inflated sense of self-worth are not unusual traits in leaders, particularly within the TTFA. They are not irredeemable character flaws. However, a lack of accountability and the refusal to adhere to guidelines for improved decision-making are traits that lead to ruin.
Trinidad and Tobago’s 7-0 loss to the United States, a joint-national record and one goal shy of USA’s all-time landmark triumph over Barbados, will forever be a stain on the record of current Soca Warriors head coach Terry Fenwick.
But, as knowledgeable sport people know, the on-field result is a reflection of the preparation—and that goes as much for the guidance and organisation of Hadad’s committee as it does Fenwick’s antics.
Whether there is much football know-how between Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Mohammed is open to debate.
But more concerning is that the quartet appear to have manipulated the functioning of the local football body so that they, like former president David John-Williams, always feel they are—to paraphrase ex-Soca Warriors head coach Stephen Hart—the smartest people in the room.
“The [normalisation committee] wouldn’t have the expertise to deal with a technical report from Terry Fenwick—certainly not,” said Downer. “Even if the board was in existence, the majority of the people on the board, excluding [former Concacaf technical committee member Keith] Look Loy, would not have had the expertise to dissect it…”
One can substitute the ‘technical’ committee with finance, legal, sports medicine, marketing, and so on. Fifa mandates active standing committees in its own statutes and insists all member associations do the same, so as to compensate for an anticipated lack of specialised knowledge and to ensure that there is a variety of strong opinions on every subject.
Article 20 in the TTFA Constitution states standing and ad-hoc committees ‘shall advise and assist the board of directors in fulfilling its duties’.
“The word shall means you must have them,” said Osmond Downer, one of the framers of the local football constitution. “How can you have shall when they are not there?
“[…] It is in the constitution because they are necessary bodies, according to article 20. It is not a matter of choosing not to have them. It is a matter of you must have them—must!”
During the ‘DJW’ era, a period in which the Men’s National Senior Team slid from 49th to 104th in the Fifa rankings, the TTFA never had more than three functioning standing committees at any given time from a minimum of 15.
It meant once John-Williams controlled the board, he could run football without hearing any voice of wisdom but his own.
World Cup 2006 stand-out Shaka Hislop, one of the framers of the TTFA constitution, was among a half dozen qualified persons to weigh in on the implications of John-Williams’ negligence.
“The thinking behind the multiple committees, in my view, was to provide a comprehensive oversight and input into all the necessary functions and programs of a properly run FA,” Hislop told Wired868, “with overarching responsibility for programs ranging from youth to senior levels, grassroots and developmental through to elite; for both women and men.
“The fact that so many of these committees are inactive suggests a unilateral approach to our football governance. [And the concern about such a governance style] was one of the main drivers behind the then TTFA administration calling for constitutional reform in the first place.”
Between December 2019 and January 2020, the William Wallace-led administration appointed members to eight standing committees. However, Fifa’s intervention last March and the ensuing chaos saw all but the referees committee grind to a halt.
And Hadad seems to be returning the TTFA to DJW’s autocratic style.
On 18 January 2021, the normalisation committee chairman—almost a year after his initial appointment—confirmed what everyone suspected by then. He did not believe the rules should apply to him.
“We wish to inform you that the standing committees are presently non-operational,” stated Hadad, via a press statement. “We are mindful of the role and contribution of the committees to the running of the organisation but prior to re-establishing them, we intend to assess the functions and composition of these committees for their adequacy and effectiveness.
“This is a necessary part of the normalisation process and in keeping with Fifa directives.”
The TTFA’s standing committees, in accordance with the constitution, hold four year terms and Fifa’s directive last March—despite Hadad’s release—did not extend to them. If there has been a change in the normalisation committee’s scope, the normalisation committee did not prove it.
In a possible bid to stave off criticism of technical decisions, Hadad appears to now use technical director Dion La Foucade, directors of football Richard Piper and Jinelle James, and club licensing and compliance director Norris Ferguson, as an advisory panel of sorts.
Not only do none of that quartet have top level coaching experience but all four are TTFA employees. Even John-Williams was forced to accept, on the urging of the membership, that employees cannot simultaneously hold advisory positions, due to the potential conflict of interests.
He was appointed on a one-year contract in January 2020.
It was a realisation that forced Wayne Cunningham and Sharon O’ Brien to choose between board positions and their day jobs.
Piper, James and Ferguson were adjunct members of the technical committee under the previous administration and, as such, could not vote on any matters.
Is Hadad’s ignorance of that fact genuine or wilful?
In any case, the businessman would have been brought up to speed within minutes of floating such an idea at a general meeting. Only he continually refuses to call one—unwilling to risk not being the smartest man in the room and being obliged to listen to someone else.
Perhaps sensing a knowledge gap, the normalisation committee, according to an advisor, was asked to utilise Fifa licensed coaching instructor and former technical director, Anton Corneal, who was involved in three successful World Cup campaigns.
But it did not go well.
“Hadad approached me and said they would like me to be part and parcel of the restructuring of the game but nothing has materialised for whatever reason,” said Corneal, in December 2020. “[…] Even that is mind boggling; but then if I don’t understand the magnitude of the game, I might think the same way [as him]. I don’t think they understand how [local football] has been affected this year.
“In a way, we are fortunate that the world is on a lockdown so there is no better time to restructure and really think about the long term development of our football. But again that has not happened.
“I am not accustomed to working in a situation where the product of football is being placed on the back burner. We will reap what we sow.
“Whether you are talking about youth football, zone football, elite football, national youth teams, football is on the back burner. If not, it must be a best-kept secret.”
Hadad’s tantrums at the slightest hint of negative feedback are well known within football now. Suffice it to say, Corneal received the cold shoulder since.
In sport, the scoreboard never lies; and the result in Orlando told its own tale.
In recent months, the football community watched aghast as Fenwick surrounded himself with friendly support staff, with no records of achievement within the game—most glaringly, his trainer Cassius Humphrey—and made a spectacle of cross-town jogs to Adam’s Bagels and uneven contests with young makeshift opponents.
Fenwick’s excuse about his job being undermined by a lack of development within the local game is especially curious when, in over a decade as an academy coach, the only player his Football Factory ever nurtured from scratch straight into a national programme is Gary Griffith III. At best, the teenager, selected ahead of two-time World Youth Cup player Marcus ‘Lobo’ Joseph for the Orlando trip, is yet to prove his worth.
It would be naive to view the America thrashing as a one-off.
What to make of the fact that team manager Adrian Romain—appointed by Fenwick rather than the previous technical committee—did not understand the quarantine procedure when the Warriors returned home?
The error cost the team two weeks’ training and preparation time.
Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines have been trying to arrange practice games against the Warriors for the past two months. The normalisation committee seems to have no idea how to put it together.
Up next is arguably the most complicated World Cup qualifying campaign of all time, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that is raging across the region at present.
It requires meticulous planning and sound, swift decision-making to calm the foreign employers of national players and provide something resembling an agenda, which Fenwick and his staff can use to prepare.
The football associations of Dominica and Barbados already know exactly what they will do. They share Group D with Panama, Dominican Republic and Anguilla; and the Dominican Republic does not have a mandatory quarantine for travellers who test negative for the virus.
So, all five Group D nations agreed to host their two March qualifying games in Santo Domingo. And, if the regional protocols do not change, they will repeat the trick in April.
As foreign clubs are empowered by Fifa to withhold players from international duty if more than four days quarantine is involved, those countries can all negotiate now with a degree of assuredness.
Meanwhile, Hadad and his satellites are begging Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to save them. Maybe this is the extent of business ‘acumen’ in Trinidad and Tobago—lobbying for government bailouts.
Like Santo Domingo, Bahamas does not have a mandatory quarantine period for incoming travellers. Do Hadad and his normalisation committee know that? Have they checked?
That is the problem in believing that you’re the smartest person in the room and then, just to make sure, keeping the room as empty as possible.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s concerns in the twin island republic appeared to have ended the minute that the local football body vowed not to investigate the controversial Home of Football project. And, like under John-Williams, the TTFA’s leadership can seemingly do whatever the hell it likes now.
Welcome to the Hadad era. Buckle up.
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Have a listen folks.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2021/feb/24/has-fifa-really-changed-football-weekly-special-part-two
THIS GUARDIAN PODCAST ADDRESSES THE TTFA vs FIFA IMPASSE!
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Griffith: No support for team by Normalisation Committee.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
In an effort to show the public that Guardian Media Sports report on Friday had no merit or foundation, national coach Terry Fenwick and Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith organised a team bonding event with the players and technical staff members at the Commissioner's residence at the St James Police Barracks after a training session which took place also at Police Grounds on the same compound on Friday and invited the media.
During the event when asked by the media about the media report, Alvin Jones and Duane Muckette say they are solely focused on the Guyana World Cup qualifier on March 25th.
Nevertheless, Muckette, who has made two appearances for the country expressed confidence in T&T football coach Terry Fenwick. He said, “I think that Terry will do his homework and we will come with a plan in ways that we can exploit them. However, so far it’s been focusing on us and focusing on how we want to play and how we want to capitalize on our strength rather than focusing on them just yet.”
Jones said, “I think that Guyana is one of the strongest teams in the group. We will be going for the win and if we can get the three points, it will be good for us.”
Also, the team's advertised travel to Tobago this weekend for a practice match has been cancelled for various reasons. There have been conflicting reports as to why the team didn’t make the trip in the end.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Griffith has sought to clear the air on the report about issues raised in the T&T senior men's football team camp, between players and coach Terry Fenwick, ahead of the country's opening World Cup qualifying match with Guyana on March 25 in the Dominican Republic.
Griffith whose involvement in the team entailed doing security work to handling conflict resolution under a succession of football administrations over the past years, said the finger of guilt should be pointed to the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, being headed by businessman Robert Hadad, as he described the T&T squad now as being more unified than ever in their World Cup campaign.
Griffith also called a press conference yesterday afternoon, in an effort to address the matter further and to show that the teams' technical staff and players are a unified bunch.
Guardian Media Sports, with the help of a circulating recording on Thursday, exclusively reported rising concerns by a number of the team's players which have been posing a major threat to the campaign by revealing who are the players that raised the concerns.
These concerns include; dissatisfaction with the method of preparation by Fenwick, routine sessions, the sidelining of assistant coach Derek King to the types of warm-up matches being taken while more competitive T&T Pro League teams can be sought, among others.
National coach Fenwick stayed silent on the issue and did not respond to questions sent to him via Whatsapp by us on the issues, Griffith questioned the authenticity of the report and bashed the players for what he said was a display of unprofessionalism.
"Difference in opinions and conflicts would always take place in sport, but in all my years in Sports Administration, even being a past Sport Vice President, Secretary, and Manager of National teams, have I ever seen such sabotage, indiscipline, and ignorance by some inside and outside of a National team, as I have seen by a few responsible for the administration of this present National Senior Football team," he said.
He noted: "The recent article by Walter Alibey in the Guardian reeks of a deliberate attempt by some to undermine the World Cup preparation by deliberately causing division and disunity. To begin with, I strongly question the authenticity of this report, as I have been closely involved in the National teams for several years, inclusive of this one, and this present team is as closely knit as one can get, so the usual song and dance that some reporters would throw about having" an anonymous source" but bringing no names, no quotes and no facts is as shallow as one can get."
He added: "What this has done, however, is cause severe concerns by many players and technical staff as they are wondering who is the Trojan Horse that would be so irresponsible to air dirty linen of a national squad in training, as this does nothing other than to cause a breakdown in morale, teamwork and trust amongst players. Or was this the intention?"
Griffith, whose son is also battling for a place on the team, turned his focus to the normalisation committee and accused its members of blocking all attempts by Fenwick to properly prepare the team.
His accusations ranged from the efforts made by Fenwick for a tri-nation warm-up bubble with Dominican and St Vincent and the Grenadines in December last year to the World Cup bubble with Guyana at the end of the month, to the Tobago warm-up matches this weekend, all of which did not get the support of the normalisation committee.
Griffith revealed also that players were also blanked stipends from the normalisation committee.
The former hockey player said: "The objective of his letter to the media was to offer constructive criticism on the issue."
Contacted yesterday, Hadad did not respond to the accusations made, saying only that the matter will be addressed and a release will be sent to the media.
Griffith said if the report was done to break the confidence and morale in the team, then it has failed miserably, noting that it has instead strengthened the bond and determination needed for the team to succeed.
He later tried to justify why he felt the report had loopholes, saying: " No National player worth their salt would do this because there is absolutely no gain to rectify the situation by running to the media like a spoilt brat to complain. The only value of doing this was to deliberately cause division and confusion, and if such individuals do exist in a National team to cause such negativity and bad publicity, then they should not even be on a fete match squad;
In fact, the senior players of the team, both at home and abroad are livid as to the petty and immature behaviour of a few who may have done this, if any did in the first place, as this is still to be confirmed.
The accusation made about Assistant Coach Derek King, being sidelined and bypassed also lacks merit, as I have spoken to Mr King who likewise is very upset that his name has been mentioned in this clandestine plot to affect the team's preparation, as he has stated that he never spoke to any player and has never seen himself being sidelined in any form or fashion."
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Gomez appointed to T&T's Normalisation Committee.
TTFA Media.
FIFA has advised that Mr. Trevor Nicholas Gomez has been appointed as the newest member of the Normalisation Committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.
Mr. Gomez joins the other three previously appointed members of the Normalisation Committee – Mr. Robert Hadad (Chairperson), Ms. Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson) and Mr. Nigel Romano (Member).
Mr. Gomez is a Chartered Accountant and the Executive Chairman of Gravitas Business Solutions. Throughout his distinguished career, the former Trinidad and Tobago National Cricketer also served as Assurance Leader of EY Caribbean and Country Managing Partner of EY, Trinidad.
In correspondence to Chairperson Hadad, FIFA Secretary General Ms. Fatma Samoura stated that Mr. Gomez would commence duties on March 15th, 2021.
“The new member shall assume his duties as from 15 March 2021 and will have to pass an eligibility check to be carried out by the FIFA Review Committee in accordance with the FIFA Governance Regulations,” Samoura stated.
“All other terms of the mandate of the Normalisation Committee as decided by the Bureau of the FIFA Council as well as the other members of the Normalisation Committee appointed on 26 March 2020 shall remain the same,” the correspondence continued.
The mandate of the Normalisation Committee will include the following:
• to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;
• to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
• to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
• to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The Normalisation Committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances.
The timing of Mr Gomez's public announcement was done to facilitate the finalization of additional technical formalities and paperwork.
Chairman of the Normalisation Committee Robert Hadad welcomes the addition of Mr. Gomez and looks forward to working with him to fulfill the mandate in the interest of Trinidad and Tobago football.
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WATCH: Progress report on the Normalization Committee
https://www.youtube.com/v/biALUHNnJ18
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Normalisation comm asks for trust, vows to improve communication; after TTFA members write Fifa.
Wired868.com.
The Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee has promised to ‘improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership’, after representatives that comprise half of the local football body complained to Fifa about Hadad’s stewardship.
The 14-page letter from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) members, written by Eastern FA president Kieron Edwards and signed by seven other member delegates, accused Hadad of gross mismanagement and creating ‘a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud’.
The letter was sent to Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura as well as Hadad and normalisation committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel L Romano, and Trevor Nicholas Gomez. It was also published in Wired868.
The normalisation committee, in a break from the norm, responded via a prompt press statement which vowed to address the issues raised ‘directly this week’ and suggested that ‘Fifa and Concacaf continue to guide this process’.
The press statement also claimed that some of the statements made by members were ‘inaccurate and based on assumptions’. The letter to Fifa spoke in detail about the contract given to Men’s National Senior Team head coach Terry Fenwick as well as the Englishman’s behaviour at the post.
Fenwick’s contract was approved by former TTFA president William Wallace and not Hadad. However, Hadad was criticised for not challenging controversial terms in the deal or holding the Soca Warriors coach accountable for his actions.
Notably, Edwards’ letter went much further as he said Hadad, the co-CEO of the Hadad Group, is mismanaging the TTFA and made special mention of his failure to appoint standing committees—including those meant to oversee his financial stewardship—or account for his management to the membership.
The normalisation committee did not directly address the accusations. It did complain, though, that the publication of the letter was ‘unfortunate’.
“It is however unfortunate that this letter, which was sent internally, has found its way into the media space,” stated the normalisation committee. “Trust between the TTFA and its membership is paramount to developing this strong relationship and we believe that by working together earnestly, it can be achieved.”
Ironically, Hadad, in particular, has been described as dishonest in his leadership of local football by Wired868, anonymous national football players, and Jefferson George, president of the National Football Coaches of Trinidad and Tobago (NFCTT).
(Full response from the normalisation committee)
The normalisation committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has received a letter from TTFA Members on 1 May 2021. We understand the concerns of the TTFA Members and will be addressing those issues with the membership directly this week.
The normalisation process was fully allowed to function as of November 2020 and the process for any Member Association is difficult and challenging. Fifa and Concacaf continue to guide this process as we work towards resurrecting football out of its doldrums, which has been made more complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It must be noted that many details outlined in the document are inaccurate and based on assumptions. We will endeavour to improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership so that the members are provided with accurate sources of information on these matters, with the aim of fostering a stronger relationship between all parties.
It is however unfortunate that this letter, which was sent internally, has found its way into the media space. Trust between the TTFA and its membership is paramount to developing this strong relationship and we believe that by working together earnestly, it can be achieved.
‘Clearly unacceptable!’ Full TTFA letter condemning Robert Hadad and the Fifa-appointed NC.
Wired868.com.
“[…] You have not called an annual general meeting and as such who will appoint the external auditors? Yourself? This is clearly unacceptable, since you cannot appoint an auditor that will audit your financial decisions.
“It is even more astounding that you have elected not to appoint an Audit and Compliance Committee […] as this committee is critical in reviewing the financial performance of your management.
“Your decisions regarding the aforementioned fact are frightening and it is a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud…”
The following letter on the supposedly appalling stewardship of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association by the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee, headed by Robert Hadad, was sent today by Eastern FA president Kieron Edwards to Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura today as well as to Hadad and other committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez:
(The letter was signed by acting Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, Northern FA president Ross Russell, Central FA president Shymdeo Gosine, Southern FA president Richard Quan Chan, Eastern Counties FU vice-president Ian Pritchard, Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales, and Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer.)
Concerns of the TTFA Membership:
With reference to the above captioned subject, we the undersigned members of the TTFA wish to draw to your attention our concerns in relation to your performance in your management of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
You were appointed on the 27 March 2020 and you were mandated by Fifa to execute the following during a two year term:
1. Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
2. Review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and ensure their compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
3. Run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
4. Organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
(Debt Repayment Plan)
To date, either there has been no cohesive and structured debt repayment plan presented to the members of the TTFA or the members have not been made aware of such plan by the normalisation committee to liquidate the outstanding debts to coaches, players, technical staff, TTFA administrative staff and other creditors.
Rather, there seems to be a greater concern with setting up a ‘Unified League’ than developing and presenting a well-organised and practical debt repayment strategy as mandated.
In fact, according to a media release dated 18 March, 2021, you stated that:
‘The current group of coaches have been paid completely, up until August of last year. All of the payments have been in. As soon as that comes through, we would then be paying the last four months of last year, I would say in the next month-and-a-half, then we’re only left with this year.’
It was further mentioned that ‘all of the other coaches, apart from the men’s team, have been brought up to date. The admin staff and the technical staff have been brought up to date. It’s just the men’s team that have to be brought up to date, and that is going to be done in the next couple of months.’
However, coaches have come forward to refute that claim stating that monies owed to them are still outstanding.
As such, we the undersigned request that you notify us of the dept repayment plan that has been implemented by the normalisation committee and as mandated by Fifa.
This is also critical, since this was the primary reason behind Fifa removing the duly elected administration and installing yourself as chairman of the normalisation committee and yet you too have been unable to present a practical and workable financially prudent debt re-payment plan.
(Increasing debt and poor financial management)
Since your appointment on the 27th of March 2020, there seems to be an increase in expenditure for the TTFA. In fact, Mr Adrian Romain was hired as manager of the Senior Men’s Team however, Mr Basil Thompson was already employed as the team’s manager.
As such, Mr Thompson now holds the position of logistics manager, a post nonexistent in our constitution. This is clearly an unnecessary expense which you have approved and it has increased the debt of the TTFA even further.
In addition, you have hired a number of high-priced foreign coaches such as the Men’s Senior National Team head coach at US$20,000 per month, the goalkeeping coach at US$9,000 per month and the assistant coach to the national team at US$8,000 per month.
(Editor’s Note: The three persons mentioned—Terry Fenwick, Kelvin Jack, and Derek King respectively—were hired and offered their current salaries during the tenure of former TTFA president William Wallace.)
As we are sure you are aware, they are currently the highest paid coaching staff in the region. In an already cash strapped environment, would it not be more prudent to retain our well capable local coaches for a reasonable cost?
We the members are of the opinion that this is not financially prudent and it clearly illustrates poor financial management. Which is contrary to your instructions given by Fifa.
There are also examples in the Futsal and the Beach Soccer Teams where you have hired expensive foreign coaches and during this financially turbulent time when you need to manage our limited funds wisely of which you have not been doing.
Your spending on coaches is exorbitant, excessive and ridiculous. Such expenditure cannot be justified given your debt management mandate by Fifa.
Mr Hadad, it seems like you have adopted an ostentatious approach to the management of the Association. In a situation where the Normalisation Committee was introduced to liquidate our outstanding debt, under your stewardship, the TTFA has been incurring increasing debt and this illustrates how you have mismanaged the funding provided by Fifa.
(Review and amend the TTFA statutes and ensure their compliance with the Fifa statutes)
The normalisation committee is expected to review and amend the TTFA Statues to ensure compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements and submit the amendments to the TTFA Congress for approval.
To date, the members of the association have neither been informed of any such amendments to the statutes nor was it submitted to congress for approval.
Article13:m of the TTFA Constitution states that the members are obligated to ratify a constitution that is in accordance with the requirements of this (TTFA) Constitution.
We therefore seek further clarification on the execution of this mandate as there has been no communication or consultation with us regarding same.
(Run the TTFA’s daily affairs)
Twelve months have passed since Fifa appointed you as the chairman of the normalisation committee of the TTFA and during this time, you have failed to conduct the daily affairs of the TTFA adequately. To date, there has been no communication between the normalisation committee and the members of the TTFA, no monthly management reports presented to members since the committee’s appointment in March 2020, no budgets or projected cash flow statements for the year 2021.
Please note as members of the TTFA we are very concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability regarding the day-to-day affairs of the association.
You were aware of the world cup qualifying game against Guyana for nine months and yet you failed to submit a proposal to the government ministries to obtain the approvals to play the game in Trinidad. In fact, you were publicly chastised by the minister of sports for not submitting the proposal on time; and by the time it was submitted it was too late and we had to play our home game in the Dominican Republic.
It is also interesting that you were also blamed for this [by] the head coach of the Senior Men’s National team.
But what was even more disturbing was that the staff of the TTFA was blamed for sabotaging the game. But the TTFA staff reports to you; so you are ultimately to blame.
To date, there has been no Annual General Meeting called for the year 2020 which contravenes the TTFA’s Constitution.
Article 27 of the TTFA Constitution states:
1. The Annual General Meeting shall be held every year in the month of September. If it is not possible to hold the meeting in September, the date of the meeting by the Board of Directors on the date not later than 30th of November of the said year.
2. The Board of Directors shall fix the place and date. The members shall be notified in writing at least 60 days in advance.
3. The formal convocation shall be made in writing at least 14 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. This convocation shall contain the agenda, the activity report, the financial statements, the independent external auditors’ report, and the minutes of the last general meeting as well as any other relevant documents.
Further, Article 12:1 Members’ rights states that the: Members have the following rights: a) to take part in the General Meeting, to receive its agenda in advance, to be called to the General Meeting within the prescribed time and to exercise their voting rights.
Please indicate when the annual general meeting would be called for the year ended December 2020 as it is long overdue.
The Audited Financial Statements have not yet been presented to the TTFA members or published for the year ended 31st December, 2020. The deadline for publishing the TTFA’s Audited Financial Statements was the 31st March, 2021 and as such, it is overdue.
I wish to draw your attention to article 71 of the TTFA’s Constitution which states: The independent external auditors appointed by the General Meeting shall audit the accounts approved by the Finance Committee in accordance with the appropriate principles of accounting and present a report to the General Meeting.
Kindly indicate when the Audited Financials will be completed and presented to the Members of the Association and published.
This is clearly a sign of poor financial management and inept corporate governance. It is also a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud.
We also wish to remind you that submission of audited financial statements is a critical part of the Compliance Process of Fifa and you have ignored this. This is not a good example to set for the clubs in Trinidad and Tobago, as they too must submit audited financial statements by 31 March, 2021.
Here again you have failed in running the daily operations of Trinidad and Tobago football.
You have not called an annual general meeting and as such who will appoint the external auditors? Yourself? This is clearly unacceptable, since you cannot appoint an auditor that will audit your financial decisions.
Here again you have flagrantly ignored proper corporate governance procedures. We wish to inform you that an auditor must be appointed for the year 2021 and this appointment must come from the members and not yourself.
It is even more astounding that you have elected not to appoint an audit and compliance committee and this is a vital part of proper corporate governance as this committee is critical in reviewing the financial performance of your management.
Your decisions regarding the aforementioned fact are frightening and it is a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud.
There have been no standing committees appointed by the normalisation committee to date. These committees form an integral part of effective management as their core function is to provide support and in house expertise required to manage and run the association efficiently and effectively.
Standing Committees are at the helm of international corporate governance and the requirement for them are enshrined in Article 43 of the constitution which states:
The standing committees are: Finance Committee; Audit and Compliance Committee; Organising Committee for TTFA Competitions; Technical and Development Committee; Referees Committee; Legal Committee; Committee for Women’s Football; Youth Football and Development Committee; Sports Medicine Committee; Players’ Status Committee; Marketing Committee.
Article 40.2 of the TTFA Constitution states: members of the standing committees shall be designated for a term of office of four years. It is also noteworthy that Fifa’s Statues also state that standing committees shall advise and assist the executive.
Fifa, on appointment of the normalisation Committee did not disband our existing Committees which were implemented by the previous administration. Rather, they disbanded the executive and appointed the normalisation Committee.
As such, what became of those committees?
Moreover, failure to appoint the aforementioned Standing Committees has resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability with the stakeholders of the TTFA, as well as a general distrust between the Members and the Normalisation Committee.
Furthermore, the absence of the aforementioned committees undermines the integrity of the Association and minimises our chances of optimal performance in the international arena.
Article 47 of the Constitution states: The Technical and Development Committee shall primarily analyse the basic aspects of football training and technical development.
How therefore, do you propose to run football in Trinidad and Tobago without a Technical and Development Committee? As enshrined in our constitution, this committee is responsible for establishing and executing a structured plan aimed toward preparedness and advancement of our national teams on the international stage.
Yet, more than twelve months into your appointment, we have not heard or seen any evidence of such.
In fact, to date there has been no presentation of development programs for our National Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 Football Teams and we are still awaiting a program for the development of Women’s Football. Here again you have failed in your mandate to run the daily affairs of football in Trinidad and Tobago.
We also wish to remind you that your primary function was to develop a debt repayment plan, yet you have not appointed a finance committee and this is incompetent on your part as you have not developed a debt repayment plan and even worse your decisions have increased the expenses of TTFA.
You have failed to appoint a technical committee and this is a glaringly poor decision since you and your other committee members do not have football experience in Trinidad and therefore it would be difficult to manage the operation of football in Trinidad and Tobago without such experience.
Who does the coaches report to? You? We urge that you must recognise that you do not have the technical footballing experience to supervise the performance of the national coaches and this will lead to poor decisions on your part.
With Trinidad and Tobago football being in a depressed situation you have also failed to establish a development plan for under-13s, under-15s and under-17s men’s and women’s teams and as such there is no forward planning on your part. Obviously, this is a bi-product of not having a technical committee.
You seem to believe that a team can prepare for eight months and this is sufficient to compete on an international level. This is not acceptable, teams must prepare for at least three years to be effective.
This is a year for women’s world cup qualifying, yet you have not appointed a women’s coach as yet. This is also, grossly weak when one considers that the post has been advertised months ago and the TTFA has received funding from Fifa for women’s football.
Even more concerning, is that this is a World Cup qualifying for year for women’s football, and there is a real opportunity to qualify for this world cup and the women’s senior team is not even training, this is not acceptable and it is another sign of weak management.
It is alleged that Mr Fenwick, at a press conference, at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on Wednesday 21 March, 2021 physically assaulted Media Officer Shaun Fuentes in front of journalists. What became of this incident?
As members of the TTFA, we would like to know what disciplinary measures were taken against Mr Fenwick for such aggressive and disrespectful behaviour. Is this the type of behaviour we allow to be swept under the carpet?
Needless to say, Article 18.2 of Mr Fenwick’s contract states: Where the coach is accused of criminal activity for an offence which carries a term of imprisonment of more than 12 months, and/or accused of any conduct which may bring the association into disrepute […], or such conduct as the association may in its absolute discretion declare to be disgraceful, the coach shall be immediately suspended to allow for the dispute resolution process as is hereinafter set out to take effect.
It seems like Mr Fenwick has a history of violence and indiscipline as this is not the first time he has been unable to control his temper.
On 4 November 2005, while employed as the head coach of San Juan Jabloteh, he physically assaulted W Connection Player, Gefferson Goulart with his forearm. At least he was suspended for approximately ten games.
Furthermore, the national team head coach has on several occasions, publicly criticised the normalisation committee and your good self.
What measures have been taken by the committee to establish respect and discipline from its employees? Moreover, what disciplinary actions are taken against employees who are insubordinate?
This type of misconduct from senior officials undermines the integrity of the game and shows poor corporate governance. It also shows a lack of discipline and respect. This type of behaviour poorly reflects on the TTFA and by extension Trinidad and Tobago.
Here again you have mismanaged the situation and you are encouraging violence and aggression within the TTFA and this is unacceptable by the members.
We wish to raise the following concerns regarding Mr Fenwick’s contract:
The contract does not detail the reporting requirements of the head coach. As such various questions arise.
Who does the head coach report to? How often is he expected to report to them? Which reports are required and by what date? How is the association’s board of directors informed about the performance and progress of the Men’s Senior National Team? This is a very critical omission from the contract.
Performance indicators and measurements are an intrinsic part of football and any contract. It helps its users understand how various entities of the game are performing and identifies whether or not goals are being met.
The contract omits how the head coach’s performance is to be measured. That is, his win rate percentage target, goals scored per game target, goals conceded per game. These are normal key performance indicators that should be included in the contract that would ensure performance and value for money.
Are these omissions of performance measures an error or was it on purpose?
The contract should also identify that if these targets are not met remedial action can be taken by TTFA which to date, it has not.
Contrastingly, the contract has stated in clause 12 that the performance of the coach shall be reviewed on the 20th month out of its 24 months (24 months being the total duration of the contract) and a review will be submitted for the coach’s comments.
This is unacceptable as the Coach must be held to a higher standard of accountability as the aforementioned review does not seem to be proportionate to the remuneration of the coach. Moreover, the coach should be evaluated on at least a quarterly basis to accurately determine the progress of the senior team.
This (remuneration in the image above) seems quite exorbitant when one considers that TTFA is insolvent due to debts of over fifty million dollars and no real means of repaying the debt. And yet a decision is made to pay one coach US$37,275 per month for four years and TTFA has no stable source of income to pay this salary.
In addition, the TTFA seems to have a habit of issuing contracts to individuals without determining if they can afford it, and this process has created the massive debt of fifty million dollars. It is also the norm in TTFA to provide coaches with contracts and simply do not pay them.
In addition, if you compare what other coaches are paid in Caribbean Islands that are ranked higher than Trinidad and Tobago on Fifa World Rankings, the average salary is US$8,000 to US$12,000 per month. Mr Fenwick’s contract is over three times the average rate.
Also, this contract’s validity is questionable as the board of directors did not approve the terms of same.
Mr Hadad, what measures have been taken to date, to address these very obvious irregularities?
It is also disturbing that the past general secretary, Ramesh Ramdhan, was suspended and Terry Fenwick was retained. This does not seem logical since both have irregularities with their contract and one was retained and the other suspended. This precedent will obviously surface in the ensuing court case with Mr Ramdhan of which we are sure you can answer in court.
Ultimately, we the members are very concerned about the weak management of football in Trinidad and Tobago. To date, the mandate as outlined by Fifa’s appointment letter dated 27 March 2020 has not been achieved and it does not look like it will be achieved under your stewardship.
Moreover, you have failed to communicate effectively with the members, seemingly attempting to manage the TTFA on your own.
You have also made several glaring errors regarding following proper corporate governance procedures—namely, failure to call the annual general meeting of TTFA, failure to produce audited financial statements for 2020 by the 31 March 2021 and the failure to appoint external auditors, a finance committee, an audit and compliance committee and a technical committee.
As such, we look forward to a prompt response from you with regards to our aforementioned concerns and ask that you specify in detail, how these matters will be addressed.
‘A breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud!’ TTFA Members report Hadad-led NC to Fifa.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Eight of the 16 bodies that comprise the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) have accused Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad and his colleagues of ‘weak management’, poor communication, ‘glaring errors regarding […] proper corporate governance’ and ‘creating a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud’.
The accusations, supported by multiple examples in a 14-page letter, were sent to Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura, Hadad and normalisation committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel L Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez today by Eastern FA president Kieron Edwards, in the strongest move yet against the current, non-elected TTFA head and his controversial body.
The letter was signed by acting Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, Northern FA president Ross Russell, Central FA president Shymdeo Gosine, Southern FA president Richard Quan Chan, Eastern Counties FU vice-president Ian Pritchard, Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales, and Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer.
Together, the signatories represent bodies that account for 28 of the TTFA’s 47 member delegates—although it does not necessarily mean that each delegate within the respective body feels the same way. On the surface, though, it would appear that Hadad has lost the confidence of more than half of the TTFA.
In a break from the norm, the normalisation committee responded swiftly via a press statement, which asked for more time to solve the highlighted issues while noting that the complaints were not entirely accurate.
“We understand the concerns of the TTFA Members and will be addressing those issues with the membership directly this week,” stated the unsigned release from the TTFA Media. “[…] It must be noted that many details outlined in the document are inaccurate and based on assumptions. We will endeavour to improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership, so that the members are provided with accurate sources of information on these matters, with the aim of fostering a stronger relationship between all parties.
“It is however unfortunate that this letter, which was sent internally, has found its way into the media space. Trust between the TTFA and its membership is paramount to developing this strong relationship and we believe that by working together earnestly, it can be achieved.”
Hadad, the co-CEO of HadCo Limited, was appointed by Fifa on 27 March 2020 along with Daniel and Romano, while Gomez was added to the normalisation committee earlier this year.
Hadad received the support of 38 TTFA delegates, including Edwards, on 28 October 2020 when members voted to accept the authority of his committee, which was the final nail in the coffin of then local football president William Wallace. The Fifa suspension of the TTFA was subsequently lifted on 15 November 2020.
However, the mood has shifted steadily since, with creditors and stakeholders—including former technical director Anton Corneal, coaches association president Jefferson George, Downer and anonymous players—criticising Hadad’s supposed callous, unilateral leadership style and aversion to the truth.
Fifa has now been officially informed of the mutinous mood against the businessman and his gang, whose ‘poor financial management and inept corporate governance’ was accused of creating ‘a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud’.
The TTFA membership also charged that the normalisation committee’s attempt to run local football without any standing committees was a further example of the unsuitability of Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Gomez to the task.
“[…] How therefore, do you propose to run football in Trinidad and Tobago without a technical and development committee—as enshrined in our constitution?” asked the TTFA members. “[…] Who does the coaches report to? You? We urge that you must recognise that you do not have the technical footballing experience to supervise the performance of the national coaches and this will lead to poor decisions on your part.
“[…] We also wish to remind you that your primary function was to develop a debt repayment plan, yet you have not appointed a finance committee. This is incompetent on your part, as you have not developed a debt repayment plan and even worse your decisions have increased the expenses of TTFA.”
At least as worrying, according to the letter, was Hadad’s failure to call an annual general meeting to allow for the appointment of external auditors, and to scrap the audit and compliance committee.
“You have not called an annual general meeting and as such who will appoint the external auditors? Yourself?” TTFA’s members asked. “This is clearly unacceptable, since you cannot appoint an auditor that will audit your financial decisions. It is even more astounding that you have elected not to appoint an audit and compliance committee […] as this committee is critical in reviewing the financial performance of your management.
“Your decisions regarding the aforementioned fact are frightening and it is a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud.”
The TTFA members also criticised Hadad and the normalisation committee for failure to address issues with the contract of Men’s National Senior Team head coach Terry Fenwick as well as his behaviour, as evidenced by his public altercation with press officer Shaun Fuentes.
“Here again you have mismanaged the situation and you are encouraging violence and aggression within the TTFA,” stated the letter, “and this is unacceptable by the members.”
Fenwick was hired under the Wallace-led administration. However, the members suggested that the normalisation committee suspended general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan for issues with his contract while continuing to recognise the English coach.
Among the listed concerns are that the normalisation committee:
1. Not only failed to offer a cohesive, structured debt repayment plan—as mandated by Fifa—but has been incapable of handling the current expenses of the local body, such as payments to national coaches;
2. Increased debt by hiring Adrian Romain as team manager while Captain Basil Thompson was in the position and moving the latter to the post of logistics manager, which is non-existent according to the constitution;
3. Saddled TTFA with a string of ‘expensive foreign coaches’ which ‘illustrates poor financial management’ and was ‘exorbitant, excessive and ridiculous’;
4. Failed to address any TTFA Statutes in need of amendments;
5. Failed to present any management reports or display basic transparency and accountability regarding the TTFA’s day-to-day affairs;
6. Mismanaged World Cup qualifiers by failing to submit proposal for home games in timely fashion, despite knowing about the fixtures nine months in advance;
7. Failed to hold AGM or provide audited financial statements for year ending 31 December 2020, which is ‘a critical part of the compliance process of Fifa’.
8. Failed to follow ‘proper corporate governance procedures’ and the TTFA constitution by appointing external auditors, an audit and compliance committee, or any standing committees at all.
The letter criticised the normalisation committee for its failure to hire a Women’s National Senior Team head coach. However, by the time it had amassed signatures from more than half of the TTFA’s member bodies, the normalisation committee had hired Welshman James Thomas for that task.
Thomas was announced as the Women’s Soca Warriors head coach on Thursday.
The controversial clauses in Fenwick’s contract identified in the letter were also approved by Wallace, rather than Hadad.
Wired868 asked Hadad for a response to the accusations by the TTFA members and whether he had, as promised, employed the same management techniques in local football that he uses at HadCo. He did not reply up to the time of publication.
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Well they were in favor of a normalization committee and they got it, now deal with the fall out of your decisions, don’t cry, suck it up.
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Awai tells TTFA’s membership to help themselves
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Mike Awai, the former AC Port-of-Spain Business Development Manager has come out in support of FIFA-installed Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad after a 15-page document by the football’s membership on May 1, branded him as incompetent.
The members in a strongly worded document criticised Hadad and the Normalisation Committee in every area of the management of the sport, ranging from not holding an annual general meeting (AGM) to not producing audited financial statement, T&T’s preparation ahead of the T&T vs Guyana World Cup Qualifying match on March 25, operating without standing committees, the non-payment of coaches, players and staff, together with the appointments of national coaches for the respective teams and the concerns raised in regards to the contact of senior national coach Terry Fenwick among many other areas.
The letter was copied to FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura and the other members of the normalisation committee inclusive of Deputy chairman and attorney Judy Daniel, former banker Nigel Romano and Trevor Gomez.
However, Awai has called on the members to understand the decision taken by FIFA, which is aimed at stabilising local football financially. He also suggested that the members focus on how they can help themselves in the current situation instead of complaining about the normalisation committee at every turn.
In March last year, the sport’s world governing body handed the normalisation committee the responsibility of managing the affairs of T&T football, as it felt the United T&TFA which was led by William Wallace, had placed the sport in a state of bankruptcy and illiquidity.
As a result, it (FIFA) provided the committee with a mandate:
1. To run the TTFA’S daily affairs
2. To establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA
3. To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; and
4. To organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate
The members in their letter argued that none of the areas listed by FIFA has been achieved by the normalisation committee, and noted that the chairman has, in fact, put the football association in an even more dire financial position.
Awai, in a list of observations, said: “I have gleaned the report/letter from the TTFA membership to FIFA and wish to make the following observations:
1. FIFA is being told that it hired an incompetent person as Chairman of the Normalisation Committee.
2. The TTFA membership has not realised that FIFA has taken the responsibility to put TTFA back on a sound financial footing.
3. The membership should focus a bit on how it can help itself in the present situation.
4. At every turn the membership is complaining and/or criticising the very body, the Normalisation Committee, that has been appointed to bring football out of the morass the TTFA and football stakeholders have found themselves in.
I understand the position of the coaches and Admin staff who have not been paid for a while. They are out of pocket for some time. I also understand that the TTFA’s resources are limited. I had hoped that the chairman would have met with the relevant persons to resolve the financial issues amicably.”
The letter by the membership comes on the heels of a chorus of calls by national teams’ coaches, players and staff, among others, for payment of salaries, match fees and stipend. Hadad yesterday agreed to meet with the coaches to discuss issues raised.
The local football boss also agreed to meet with membership this week to iron out all concerns, though refuting some of the accusations made in the letter.
Meanwhile, Awai also said he had hopes that the membership would have submitted proposals to keep football afloat in T&T. He concluded by saying: “ Recalibration is necessary instead of being combative. Let us move forward in a positive manner.”
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FIFA NC to answer TTFA members today.
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).
A response from the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee to the membership of the T&T Football Association is expected on Tuesday, a member of the Board of Directors of the TTFA has said.
The members accused Hadad of gross mismanagement last week Saturday (May 1) in carrying out a mandate given by the sport's world governing body for football - FIFA, to stabilise T&T football, clear a crippling debt and prepare the members for elections in two years time.
Hadad was called out for a number of issues, including the non-payment of salaries to staff, players and coaches of the senior national men's team, no audited and compliance committee, no annual general meetings (AGM), no audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020; increasing debt and poor financial management, and the mismanagement of the World Cup match against Guyana that was eventually played in the Dominican Republic.
Attorney Judy Daniel, one of the members of the normalisation committee who had been trapped abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said on Monday that while she was not at liberty to speak on issues coming out of the committee as there is a spokesman for that purpose, she did give the assurance that the committee will be issuing a response to the TTFA membership very soon.
Hadad and his other members, former banker Nigel Romano and businessman Trevor Gomez could not be reached for comment, but upon receipt of the 15-page letter from the membership on April 8, Hadad said: "The Normalisation process was fully allowed to function as of November 2020 and the process for any Member Association is difficult and challenging. FIFA and CONCACAF continue to guide this process as we work towards resurrecting football out of its doldrums, which has been made more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It must be noted that many details outlined in the document are inaccurate and based on assumptions. We will endeavour to improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership so that the members are provided with accurate sources of information on these matters, with the aim of fostering a stronger relationship between all parties."
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Did Haddad and TTFA had the long awaited meeting ?
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This firetrucking farce still ongoing??!! steups!!! :bs: :cursing: :banginghead:
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TTFA debts estimated at TT$98.5Million
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
The FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) has assured its commitment to fulfilling the mandate given to it by the sport’s world governing body- FIFA, in March last year, and has sought the services of Accounting firm Ernest &Young to achieve its goal.
The mandate includes the liquidation of a rising debt that has for many years, crippled T&T’s football. The mandate also requires the normalisation committee to position the T&TFA for fresh elections after two years.
In a response to the TTFA membership that comes almost three weeks after concerns were raised about blatant mismanagement in the sport, Robert Hadad, the chairman of the normalisation committee issued a four-page response that highlighted the state of affairs of the sport presently and the challenges they faced in attempting to achieve their mandate.
On May 1, Hadad was called out for gross mismanagement, ranging from his non-payment of salaries to staff members, players and coaches of the senior national men's team which is scheduled to play World Cup qualifying matches against the Bahamas and St Kitts/Nevis in June, to no audited and compliance committee, no annual general meetings (AGM), no audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020; increasing debt and poor financial management, and the mismanagement of the World Cup match against Guyana that was played in the Dominican Republic.
However, Hadad said yesterday: “The audited financial statements for years ended December 31, 2017, and 2018 reported that the TTFA’s current liabilities far exceeded its current assets, casting doubt on the TTFA’s ability to continue as a going concern. In the most recent audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, dated February 26, 2021, the auditors were not able to provide an opinion since they could not be assured of the TTFA’s ability to satisfy all its debts and to continue as a going concern.
Given the TTFA’s poor financial condition, the NC engaged an independent professional services firm, Ernst & Young Services Limited (EY), to verify the TTFA’s creditors. EY’s report, dated April 9, 2021, revealed total estimated outstanding liabilities and unasserted claims (contingent liabilities) of approximately TT$98.5 million as of February 9, 2021. EY also reported major policy, procedural and control deficiencies within the TTFA’s Purchase to Pay process. EYs work will assist with the formulation of a debt repayment plan as well as inform the remediation requirements necessary to enhance the TTFA’s overall governance and control environment.”
Hadad assured that since financial governance is a cornerstone and an indication of the strength of an organization, pursuant to the audited financial statements, the NC’s review of the organization and EY’s findings, it appears that the Association suffered from weak financial governance and, as a result, has been mismanaged for several years.
“The financial statements, which were ratified at General Meetings over the last decade, suggest that the Association has consistently failed to manage its expenses within approved budgets. The result: mounting debt and the TTFA facing the very real risk of insolvency and liquidation.
Therefore, it is critical that, the TTFA’s financial affairs be managed in a sustainable manner. We cannot repeat what happened at the start of 2020, when the TTFA appointed dozens of coaching and technical staff for its various National Teams and other administrative staff, committing to pay net salaries amounting to just under US$1.0 million; about 100% of the TTFA’s annual FIFA Forward allocation, the TTFA’s only confirmed source of funding. Therefore, funds for other expenses, including airfare and accommodation for tournaments, utilities and insurance, to name a few, were not adequately budgeted,” the report said.
According to the normalisation committee, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has further exacerbated situations, as it dispelled claims it mismanaged the country’s World Cup qualifying matches to be played at home, which including Guyana match on March 25.
“After FIFA lifted the TTFA’s suspension on 19th November 2020, and CONCACAF confirmed the new schedule of the 2021 World Cup Qualifiers on 4th December 2020, the NC held the first of many meetings, with the Sports Company of T&T on 21st December 2020 to develop plans for hosting the Guyana Qualifier in Trinidad and Tobago. However, based on the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) response on 19th February 2021, to the TTFA’s proposal, the match had to be played in another territory.
Since then, in preparation for the June 2021 Qualifiers, the Ministry of Health has been engaged in numerous discussions to evaluate the option of hosting those games on home soil. However, given the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, that option is not feasible.”
In the meantime, the committee assured that the country participated at FIFA and CONCACAF tournaments, while the senior women’s team will begin training soon.
The committee is also in the process of forming a Unified League, as League football in T&T has been going through a transitionary period with discussions centred around the development of a national league structure. As such the NC has contacted the FIFA League Development Programme for advice and technical guidance as it designs the unified league structure from grassroots to elite players. The exercise is being led by a Steering Committee which comprises representatives from key stakeholders of league football in T&T.
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WATCH: Former TTFA Technical Director Anton Corneal talks about the Normalisation Committee
https://www.youtube.com/v/n3EplJp386Q
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WATCH: Shaka Hislop on TTFA normalisation committee.
https://www.youtube.com/v/L32RQ1Abq2M
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If you see a poor man begging on Fred(e)rick st., hardly have clothes, eating a box ah KFC somebody just give him, real suffering. You might drop a few $ or coins in he cup.
Covid have yuh in a mess, every place lockdown..but ppl still holding lil backyard lime as far as the government permit, but you keeping it down low, cause yuh have responsibilities, yuh have children and aged parents to take care off.
Yuh neighbour on the right side, he have a 'Covid Lime', he invite yuh, but yuh not going, yuh doh want to infect nor be infected, and bring the thing home, to make matters worse. Yuh want to go still, so yuh take ah peep over the fence to see how much ppl dey. Yuh might take ah chance. Who yuh see ? The homeless man from Fredrick street dressed and looking nice, drink in hand. Oooh K. "Not me an he again".
Next weekend, Left side neighbour he fed up too..He start to preach, small lime, " Come thru nah !" Yuh say "Naahh, cyah take the chance boy. I doh want to be the one for killing the old ppl in meh house by passing thing to them. I can't afford to get nothing, cause the kids and them need my support, with everything now." A A.. who in the Lime again..the begging man. WDA Man.
Yuh call the neighbour, one time. He say "Apps, yuh comming thru"..YUh say nah..but who is the fella who only drinking champagne, i seeing everybody else drinking beer and shandy. I does see him around tow.." Before yuh could finish, he say, "Oh that's Harvey, He own all kinda businesses down south, well respected in the community, as a matter of fact he trying to help out the homeless these days. Come and meet him nah, Nice fella."
You say "nah bredda, I might be para, but to much ppl depending on me these days, I can't take no chance. Play allyuh self". How easy yuh rushing to give yuh limited funds after that ?
Since we was so in debt and saw it fit to enter Futsal and beach Football teams, regardless of how much input and participation the NC had. Now would be a ideal time for TTBWA (The Trinidad & Tobago Blind Welfare Association) to start a team. - i'm not joking. Cause I don't mind assisting giving my coins - if i even have to give - to another group, whether they use my lil change for football or just to help by a food.
Maybe that's why Futsal/Beach football team, have nice hotel and good accommodations, maybe NC not involved.. but how United and them miss out on ah extra 48 million. They hire the wrong accounting firm ?
Everything might be on the up and up, eh. Yet it's a matter of Optics that playing with my head.
add:Is only a crazy story of thoughts after reading Mrs Cudjoe statement: https://guardian.co.tt/sports/cudjoe-no-money-to-repay-ttfa-debt-6.2.1333018.3b38f9e2ac
I should of listen to Shaka and Ascension post first. Will do that now.
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98,500000 TT is approx 14,484,523.50000 US. Any Trinis out there with deep pockets to help the very "poor" TTFA in the so called richest island in the Caribbean.
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Normalisation committee aims to keep Trinidad and Tobago football afloat
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
THE FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, headed by Robert Hadad, said it has been trying its best to ensure the T&T Football Association (TTFA) has been running smoothly by providing salaries to all stakeholders and reducing debt.
A media release from the normalisation committee on Friday, said, “For more than 12 months, the normalisation committee has been working on sourcing funds to keep the players, staff, coaches and daily operations of the TTFA afloat.”
According to the release, the national team players and coaching staff members have been paid a total of US$788,000.
The normalisation committee said it has received guidance in an effort to improve the financial hardship in local football.
“In February 2021 the normalisation committee engaged Ernst & Young Services Ltd to verify the TTFA’s creditors. This was done to properly assess the damage done by years of poor governance.
"Ernst & Young also reported major policy, procedural and control deficiencies within the purchase to pay process of previous TTFA administrations. Ernst & Young’s report, dated April 9, 2021, revealed total estimated outstanding liabilities and unasserted claims (contingent liabilities) of approximately $98.5 million.”
The findings have been sent to the world football body. “The Ernst & Young findings and recommendations have been submitted to FIFA and are being used to develop a plan to deal with outstanding debt and inform much needed improvements to the TTFA’s financial governance.”
Following the FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to T&T in February 2020 to assess the financial situation of TTFA, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee on March 17, 2020. The mission found that its extremely poor financial management practices, combined with massive debt, resulted in the TTFA’s inability to meet its financial commitments and facing a very real risk of insolvency.
As part of the corrective measures applied by FIFA, a team of financial and legal business leaders from T&T were recruited and installed with a clear mandate which includes establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA.
“Over the coming weeks, the normalisation committee, will reveal the enablers needed and inhibitors identified as the committee collaborates with all TTFA stakeholders to fulfill its mandate in correcting the outstanding issues from previous TTFA administrations. As you can imagine this continues to be an incredibly complex operation and we thank you for your cooperation and understanding,” the release said.
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Normalisation committee aims to keep Trinidad and Tobago football afloat
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
THE FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, headed by Robert Hadad, said it has been trying its best to ensure the T&T Football Association (TTFA) has been running smoothly by providing salaries to all stakeholders and reducing debt.
A media release from the normalisation committee on Friday, said, “For more than 12 months, the normalisation committee has been working on sourcing funds to keep the players, staff, coaches and daily operations of the TTFA afloat.”
According to the release, the national team players and coaching staff members have been paid a total of US$788,000.
The normalisation committee said it has received guidance in an effort to improve the financial hardship in local football.
“In February 2021 the normalisation committee engaged Ernst & Young Services Ltd to verify the TTFA’s creditors. This was done to properly assess the damage done by years of poor governance.
"Ernst & Young also reported major policy, procedural and control deficiencies within the purchase to pay process of previous TTFA administrations. Ernst & Young’s report, dated April 9, 2021, revealed total estimated outstanding liabilities and unasserted claims (contingent liabilities) of approximately $98.5 million.”
The findings have been sent to the world football body. “The Ernst & Young findings and recommendations have been submitted to FIFA and are being used to develop a plan to deal with outstanding debt and inform much needed improvements to the TTFA’s financial governance.”
Following the FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to T&T in February 2020 to assess the financial situation of TTFA, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee on March 17, 2020. The mission found that its extremely poor financial management practices, combined with massive debt, resulted in the TTFA’s inability to meet its financial commitments and facing a very real risk of insolvency.
As part of the corrective measures applied by FIFA, a team of financial and legal business leaders from T&T were recruited and installed with a clear mandate which includes establishing a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA.
“Over the coming weeks, the normalisation committee, will reveal the enablers needed and inhibitors identified as the committee collaborates with all TTFA stakeholders to fulfill its mandate in correcting the outstanding issues from previous TTFA administrations. As you can imagine this continues to be an incredibly complex operation and we thank you for your cooperation and understanding,” the release said.
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Inhibitstors and enablers! Strips this eh no fracking revelation- any lay person following football inTnT could outline and list volumes of this- yuh eh need to reveal dat to fulfill yuh mandate- but fun starters let's begin with COMPETENCIES and organizational effe ciencies in all areas of operations.
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The NC is adept at providing statements in formats that don't lend themselves to immediate follow-up questioning. Also versed in 11th hour proclamations. Not quite what the doctor ordered ... or was it?
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Normalisation Committee: Terry Fenwick sacked due to ‘affordability issue’
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).
ANGUS EVE, the new coach of the T&T men’s football team, has been handed a performance-based contract, according to Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, which oversees the affairs of the TT Football Association (TTFA).
Hadad made this disclosure during an interview on Monday afternoon, moments after a Zoom media conference, organised by the TTFA, which introduced Eve as the replacement for the sacked Terry Fenwick.
On Saturday, Eve was hired on an interim basis, until August 31.
Hadad declined to say if Eve’s salary will be on par with Fenwick’s earnings of US$20,000 per month.
Asked about Eve’s salary, Hadad replied, “It has been decided but that is private, and I would not like to reveal that just yet. What I can tell you is his salary is based – a big part of it – on performance.”
Fenwick took over from Dennis Lawrence as T&T coach on a two-year deal, effective January 1, 2020, with the understanding that he would be paid US$17,500/month with other bonuses. In the incentive package, Fenwick’s salary would have increased to US$20,000/month if the team qualified for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.
However, an agreement was signed by former TTFA president William Wallace, ex-general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan and Fenwick which meant that Fenwick would get a starting salary of US$20,000/month and would have increased to US$25,000/month if the team earned a spot in the Gold Cup.
Earlier this month, T&T, under the guidance of Fenwick, were eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup Concacaf Zone first round qualifiers, after they failed to top Group F. T&T finished second with eight points, one point behind St Kitts/Nevis.
The national team will be involved in the Gold Cup qualification stage at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States.
On July 2, T&T will meet Montserrat while, a day later, Cuba will oppose French Guiana. The winners of those matches will square off on July 6 for a Gold Cup spot, in Group A (alongside Curacao, El Salvador and Mexico).
According to Hadad, Fenwick is still owed outstanding salaries and that matter is being dealt with by the normalisation committee.
“He was paid from January to April of this year,” Hadad said. “We are owing him, I believe, about six months from last year. We’re owing him another two months (from) this year. We will have to negotiate what happens with his salary from now till the end of the year.”
Concerning the salaries of Fenwick’s assistant coaches Derek King and Kelvin Jack, Hadad mentioned, “We’ve agreed on a settlement with them already and they’ve been really great about it. Both of them have understood our affordability issue and we’re paying them up until the end of June. They’ve been very kind to the Association and T&T football.”
During the media conference, normalisation committee member Nicholas Gomez revealed that Fenwick’s dismissal as T&T coach last week was not only due to the World Cup elimination but financial issues as well.
“This matter has purely to deal with the affordability issue,” Gomez said. “The Association has been challenged financially. Some of the arrangements that were established before the normalisation committee came in, just have proven not to be affordable.”
Gomez continued, “We had to make a judgement call and determination as to how we deal with it. Our approach was to deal with it in the way that we had. We’ve taken this measure on that basis.”
Were the team’s performances used as means to dismiss Fenwick as coach? Gomez responded, “Trinidad and Tobago (have) not been satisfied with the outcome, having been eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers. The impact of that is quite significant on the Association, and the players. Whilst we had to deal with that, the fact is we remained very uncomfortable with the arrangements that were in place.
“This was always a matter that was of concern for us. We attempted to have conversations in that context but it did not lead to any different outcome. We took the opportunity to make a decision. We’re hoping that this measure is going to create an opportunity, a change in leadership, a change in tone, a change in culture, some inspiration and motivation for the players.”
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Clearly it was not exclusively an issue of affordability but an issue of the quality of the product at the price/cost point. Otherwise, he would have been gone a long time ago.
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Fenwick took over from Dennis Lawrence as T&T coach on a two-year deal, effective January 1, 2020, with the understanding that he would be paid US$17,500/month with other bonuses. In the incentive package, Fenwick’s salary would have increased to US$20,000/month if the team qualified for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.
However, an agreement was signed by former TTFA president William Wallace, ex-general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan and Fenwick which meant that Fenwick would get a starting salary of US$20,000/month and would have increased to US$25,000/month if the team earned a spot in the Gold Cup.
So, William Wallace and his group were thrown out because of the above transaction. Claims of lack of transparency and corruption by FIFA. If that was the case. To me, FIFA and NC should not have kept TF because of the above actions of WW and his crew.
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Normalisation committee to choose selection panel for Trinidad and Tobago team coaches
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday).
THE FIFA-appointed normalisation committee plans to choose a selection panel to assist in their searches for national team coaches, including the men’s team coach.
On Sunday, the normalisation committee, in a media release, announced the selection of Angus Eve as interim coach, replacing Terry Fenwick, who was fired last Friday. However, Eve’s term will end on August 31, with the normalisation committee indicating their desire to have a new coach in September.
Nicholas Gomez, a member of the normalisation committee, which deals with the day-to-day running of the TT Football Association (TTFA), said in a media conference on Monday, “It’s important we establish an appropriate criteria to make a determination, on the basis of which people assess the applications that come before us.
Gomez added, “The first thing that we will is actually develop a selection panel, to make sure we have an appropriate representation on that panel. Then we will develop the criteria, then we will share with the applicants the criteria that we would use to evaluate the applications.”
“Whilst the individual matches the criteria, the question becomes, can you afford the person? We would have to consider affordability, that is for sure.” Gomez pointed out on Monday that a reason for firing Terry Fenwick as T&T men’s coach was a lack of finances.
1. Preliminarily, the NC should establish/state the criteria for placement on the selection panel and the proposed numerical composition of that body.
2. The NC should engage informed supporter input ... The MOST neglected constituency among T&T football stakeholders.
Input that is within the equation, not input that is exogenous to the selection.
The NC has had multiple balls to juggle. Same applied to past administrations. It's safe to say the NC has dropped some of those balls. The one ball it hasn't picked up at all is the supporter/fan ball.
Don't kick the can down the road.
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Local football stakeholders want answers
T&T Express
Nearly 17 months since the normalisation committee was given a two-year tenure to fix the finances of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, some TTFA members are demanding answers to a number of questions, including the kit deal with Miami-based sports apparel company BOL.
In a 30-page document addressed to normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad and copied to FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura on July 20, six TTFA members—acting TT Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, Richard Ferguson, owner of La Horquetta Rangers and organiser of the Ascension tournament, Kieron Edwards of the Eastern FA, Ian Pritchard of Eastern Counties, Ross Russell of the Northern Football Association and Referees Association president Osmond Downer—complain about receiving unsatisfactory answers to concerns raised in an earlier letter dated May 1, 2021.
Downer said that a members/stakeholders meeting about a month ago, ”it was decided that it is the duty of the members to make an input.”
In writing to Hadad, the members stated: “It is generally believed by the membership that your response was unresponsive, indifferent, and it left the membership with questions still unanswered although every opportunity was afforded to you to explain your actions.”
And among the queries raised in their latest correspondence is one about the details of the arrangement with BOL, agreed to in April of this year, which currently outfits national teams.
In particular, the members wanted to know what were the tendering procedures followed by the TTFA, “in order to determine the competencies of BOL—a company incorporated approximately 11 months ago, to retain their services for a two-year contract period, especially when this two-year period far exceeds the normalisation committee’s tenure at the TTFA?
The six also asked in their letter: “Do you or any other member of the normalisation committee have any connection past or present with BOL?”
In announcing its partnership with BOL, the TTFA had said via a release that: “BOL will equally incentivise Trinidad and Tobago for the performance achievements of both the Men’s and Women’s national teams in order to recognise TTFA’s efforts and vision for the future of all. An extensive annual product collection will be provided au gratis and the deal will also include a revenue sharing programme for team branded products sold around the world.”
Referring in their letter to that revenue sharing programme, the six members wanted Hadad to clarify exactly what the programme entailed and “the nature of this extensive bonus scheme.”
The members also raised questions about the status of the TTFA’s debt repayment plan. Calls made to Hadad’s cell phone went unanswered, neither did he respond to questions via Whatsapp on Sunday.
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Can anyone tell me when this Normalization Committee term is up?
Apparently they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Now that they are concentrating on the ladies senior team for a tournament in November, our men will not be playing a SINGLE game during this international break. Our U14's couldn't get a run out in the CFU tournament. Vax or no vax, no information or timeline to resume local football This is just shameful.
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Can anyone tell me when this Normalization Committee term is up?
Apparently they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Now that they are concentrating on the ladies senior team for a tournament in November, our men will not be playing a SINGLE game during this international break. Our U14's couldn't get a run out in the CFU tournament. Vax or no vax, no information or timeline to resume local football This is just shameful.
I don't know. But I do know is time for dem to go.
Not sure if this is true, but when they leave, they hand over the governance to someone only they can choose. In other words when they find that person, they leave that person to run the show. This can be the road of return for Mr you know who. . DJW.
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Can anyone tell me when this Normalization Committee term is up?
Apparently they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Now that they are concentrating on the ladies senior team for a tournament in November, our men will not be playing a SINGLE game during this international break. Our U14's couldn't get a run out in the CFU tournament. Vax or no vax, no information or timeline to resume local football This is just shameful.
I don't know. But I do know is time for dem to go.
Not sure if this is true, but when they leave, they hand over the governance to someone only they can choose. In other words when they find that person, they leave that person to run the show. This can be the road of return for Mr you know who. . DJW.
Hoping this is not true........ and the wheels of the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.....
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Normalisation committee mum on Soca Warriors' coach
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)
THE FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, which conducts the affairs of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), have remained mum on the position of the T&T men's team coach, as the contract of Angus Eve, as interim coach, ended on Tuesday.
Eve, who replaced Terry Fenwick on June 13, was handed a contract to serve as T&T coach until August 31.
At the time of his appointment, Eve, the former T&T midfielder and captain, said his aim was to improve the team’s fortunes, following their elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup Concacaf Zone qualifiers in early June.
Eve declined comment on Monday about his immediate future, both at the national and club level (he also serves as coach of Pro League team Club Sando). Repeated phone calls, on Monday and Tuesday, to the normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, acting general secretary of the TTFA Amiel Mohammed, and TTFA technical director Dion La Foucade, went unanswered.
Eve had five games as T&T coach, all at the Concacaf Gold Cup in the United States.
During the Gold Cup qualifiers, T&T hammered Montserrat 6-1 (on July 2). Four days later, T&T needed kicks from the penalty spot to defeat French Guiana 8-7, after the scores were locked at 1-1 at the end of regulation time. The victory over French Guiana guaranteed a spot in the Gold Cup.
In Group A, T&T drew goalless against Mexico (July 10), lost 2-0 to El Salvador (July 14) and were held to a 1-1 draw against Guatemala (July 18).
T&T finished third in the group with two points, behind Mexico (seven points) and El Salvador (six points). Both Mexico and El Salvador advanced to the knockout stage, while T&T and Guatemala (one point) were eliminated.
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No football in trinidad at all eh .. Sancho and others who supported the NC quiet now
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George repeats call for Hadad to display transparency
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian)
Jefferson George, President of the Unified Football Coaches of T&T (UFCTT) has again called for Normalisation Committee chairman, Robert Hadad to appoint the necessary standing committees of the T&T Football Association.
The TTFA constitution comprises no fewer than 16 such standing committees as follows: Emergency Committee: Finance Committee: Audit and Compliance Committee: Organising Committee for TTFA Competitions: Technical and Development Committee: Legal Committee: Committee for Women’s Football: Youth Football and Development Committee: Sports Medicine Committee: Players’ Status Committee: Marketing Committee: Club Licensing Committee: Electoral Committee: Disciplinary Committee: Ethics Committee: Appeal Committee:
However, since the appointment of the Normalisation Committee on March 17, 2020, those committees have been inactive and calls have been made by various stakeholders of the sport to have them implemented and functioning.
Recently, calls were again made by UFCTT General Secretary and former national youth goalkeeper Rayshawn Mars for the Normalisation Committee to make the much-needed appointments to the Technical Committee as it is the body that is responsible for the selection of national coaches as well as the Finance Standing Committee.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports on Friday about the permanent appointment of Eve to the permanent post of national men’s team football coach, George, a former national youth goalkeeper said he believes the right choice was made.
George added, “We will definitely like to congratulate Angus (Eve) because we believe that he is a good choice for the job. We wish Angus and his team all the best and not just Angus, but all the other teams that are in training, the women’s team in particular.”
Reflecting on Eve’s tenure as interim boss at the Gold Cup, George added, “We think that he (Eve) did enough in his capacity as the interim coach taking us through the qualification of the Concacaf Gold Cup and representing well in the group stages.”
However, while the naming of Eve has the full backing of George, he said he was still not pleased with the process being used by Hadad.
George said, “We still find issues with the lack of process as that is something that we have always sort of objected to.
“We have recognized in the statement made by the TTFA it quoted Mr Hadad stating that Eve would have done well in his tenure as interim coach and he also expects him to work well with the youths and so on, which is a statement of fact.”
However, George said: “But, that is not the role or responsibility of the NC chairman, that is the responsibility of a Technical Committee. So it’s a little bit ironic that while Mr Hadad is making a statement or performing the function of the Technical Committee he has not appointed one, which is his responsibility within his remits. So, we continue to call on the NC to appoint all the standing committees so that they can focus on what they need to do and the committees can go about and do their function. Obviously, the NC would still have the responsibility of oversight but at this point, the way how things are being done is not how it is meant to be carried. I don’t think we are asking for too much to have things done in a way that it should be,” George ended.
This was done after Welshman James Thomas was named as the T&T senior women’s team head coach, with the rest of his technical staff being selected in Charlie Mitchell (assistant coach and performance analyst), James Baird (goalkeeper coach), Joanne Daniel (team manager), Terry Johnson-Jeremiah (equipment manager), Atiba Downes (strength and conditioning coach) and Aqilya Gomez (rehab specialist) all without having had any previous experience working in those positions and all, non-nationals as well.
Included in deciding on the national women’s team staff were T&TFA Technical Director Dion La Foucade, former T&T player Richard Chinapoo, Women’s Director of Football Jinelle James and Thomas.
On Thursday, former national captain and record appearances (118 caps) holder Angus Eve was appointed permanently to fill the position of senior national men’s coach as well as the Under-20 men’s team until March 31, 2023.
This after the 49-year-old Eve served as interim coach following his appointment in June, for the recently concluded Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers and Group Stage matches in the USA until August 31 following an unsuccessful qualification campaign to the 2022 FIFA World Cup under then-head coach Englishman Terry Fenwick, who was appointed in December 2019.
The announcement on Eve’s appointment which came via a news release from the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) of the T&T Football Association (TTFA).
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Soca Warriors to receive payment on Thursday
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Payment of match fees to the country's senior footballers will be made on Thursday, one player has said.
The payment will cover monies for World Cup Qualifying matches against the Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis which ended goalless and 2-0, respectively, in favour of the Soca Warriors.
The players will also be paid for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifier against French Guiana which T&T won 8-7 in a penalty shoot-out, following a dogged 1-1 draw at the end of regulation time.
The players have been at odds with the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee over consistent late payment of match fees. They are owed differing amounts of between US$3,000 to US$8,000 for the six matches, but behind the grin teeth offered by the players upon word of the payment, the player, who did not want to be identified, said the players are still dissatisfied.
"The Normalisation Committee reached out to us after an interview by newly appointed coach Angus Eve. They reached out stating that three games will be paid for, which is the Bahamas match, St Kitts and Nevis and the French Guiana game which will be paid by this morning (Thursday)," said the player, who on Sunday, told Guardian Media Sports that they were told that payments would be made by Tuesday or Wednesday this week. The Gold Cup Group matches, however, will still be outstanding.
According to the player: "For the Gold Cup matches, we had an agreement that whenever they (normalisation committee) gets the group-stage funds, which would be around US$100, 000 from the CONCACAF, they would be paid from that. So when they get the funds, they will have 14 days to pay it because that is the arrangement we have.
"However, players are pretty much still disappointed because they (NC) did not hold up to their end of the bargain. Although they welcome the funds, they are pretty much still disappointed."
Defender Radanfah Abu Bakr, on Sunday, also confirmed that payment of match-fees was to be paid this week, but he could not say exactly when. The players were to receive monies for the World Cup qualifiers and Gold Cup within 60 and 30 days of tournaments, respectively, but were told by the normalisation committee that they were awaiting funds from the sport's world governing body to pay.
Meanwhile, the player has joined the chorus of players welcoming the return of Eve as the new coach, saying: "Definitely looking forward to working with him. I'm very pleased for him that he got the job full-time. Working under him for the Gold Cup was a very nice experience. So knowing Angus, he is already at it, trying to work out whatever plans he has for Trinidad football to go forward.
"I do hope that he gets the necessary support from the normalisation committee and also the public. Also hope that sponsors can come on board and help to get the football to the level we're supposed to be at for the longest while."
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Soca Warriors to receive payment to on Thursday
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Payment of match fees to the country's senior footballers will be made on Thursday, one player has said.
The payment will cover monies for World Cup Qualifying matches against the Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis which ended goalless and 2-0, respectively, in favour of the Soca Warriors.
The players will also be paid for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifier against French Guiana which T&T won 8-7 in a penalty shoot-out, following a dogged 1-1 draw at the end of regulation time.
The players have been at odds with the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee over consistent late payment of match fees. They are owed differing amounts of between US$3,000 to US$8,000 for the six matches, but behind the grin teeth offered by the players upon word of the payment, the player, who did not want to be identified, said the players are still dissatisfied.
"The Normalisation Committee reached out to us after an interview by newly appointed coach Angus Eve. They reached out stating that three games will be paid for, which is the Bahamas match, St Kitts and Nevis and the French Guiana game which will be paid by this morning (Thursday)," said the player, who on Sunday, told Guardian Media Sports that they were told that payments would be made by Tuesday or Wednesday this week. The Gold Cup Group matches, however, will still be outstanding.
According to the player: "For the Gold Cup matches, we had an agreement that whenever they (normalisation committee) gets the group-stage funds, which would be around US$100, 000 from the CONCACAF, they would be paid from that. So when they get the funds, they will have 14 days to pay it because that is the arrangement we have.
"However, players are pretty much still disappointed because they (NC) did not hold up to their end of the bargain. Although they welcome the funds, they are pretty much still disappointed."
Defender Radanfah Abu Bakr, on Sunday, also confirmed that payment of match-fees was to be paid this week, but he could not say exactly when. The players were to receive monies for the World Cup qualifiers and Gold Cup within 60 and 30 days of tournaments, respectively, but were told by the normalisation committee that they were awaiting funds from the sport's world governing body to pay.
Meanwhile, the player has joined the chorus of players welcoming the return of Eve as the new coach, saying: "Definitely looking forward to working with him. I'm very pleased for him that he got the job full-time. Working under him for the Gold Cup was a very nice experience. So knowing Angus, he is already at it, trying to work out whatever plans he has for Trinidad football to go forward.
"I do hope that he gets the necessary support from the normalisation committee and also the public. Also hope that sponsors can come on board and help to get the football to the level we're supposed to be at for the longest while."
;D :rotfl:
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what is so funny Asylum ?
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what is so funny Asylum ?
Ah sensing Alibey flubbed his lines. Ah feel iz only RAB he spoke to ...
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what is so funny Asylum ?
...the player, who did not want to be identified, said the players are still dissatisfied...
lol
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T&T footballers get outstanding payments
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
After months of waiting for match fees owed to them by the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), players on the country's senior men's football team were finally paid on Monday.
One player, who spoke on condition of anonymity becuase he's not authorised to speak on behalf of players, confirmed for Guardian Media Sports yesterday that players got their payment on Tuesday.
The payment will cover monies for World Cup Qualifying matches against the Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis, as well as for the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifier against French Guiana at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States.
Against the Bahamians, the Soca Warriors were held to a goalless draw at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, which confirmed their exit from the World Cup qualifiers on June 5. And later, they defeated St Kitts and Nevis 2-0 at the Estadio Felix Sanchez in the Dominican Republic on June 8.
In the Gold Cup qualifier against French Guiana, the Soca Warriors prevailed 8-7 in a penalty shoot-out, following a 1-1 tie in regulation time.
They were owed differing amounts of between US$3,000 to US$8,000 for six matches, inclusive of matches in the group stage of the Gold Cup.
They are now owed for all the matches at the Gold Cup Group stage only, which include matches against Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala.
According to the player, payment for these matches will come from the team's earnings at the Gold Cup- approximately US$100,000.
"We have been told by the normalisation committee/TTFA that we will be paid from this payment, expected to be 14 days after it is received."
The players were to receive monies for the World Cup Qualifiers and Gold Cup within 60 and 30 days of tournaments, respectively.
It is not the first time the players have had to fight for payment of match fees. Only earlier this year they received payment, which represented the second tranch of monies owed to them from the year before 2020. In 2020, they were paid in December.
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Come again, Hadad - Selby Browne: NC should have done more by now
By Garth Wattley (T&T Express)
The membership of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and the normalisation committee (NC) will meet again in two weeks, but one member is not optimistic that real progress will be made in tackling the problems facing local football.
President of the Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) Selby Browne was disappointed by what he did not hear at Sunday’s virtual Annual General meeting held by the normalisation committee headed by chairman Robert Hadad.
At the meeting, NC chairman Robert Hadad pleaded with those in attendance that, “if we really wish to rebuild football in this country, then we must embrace the debt crisis as the entire membership’s problem. It is an unprecedented problem, but it is a problem that we all share. The issues have been aired, improvements in governance outlined, the need for fundraising and debt repayment stated – let us work together to restore this fractured association.”
However, Browne claimed that the substance of what the committee presented to the membership amounted to a, “restating of what was said at the informal meeting in April.”
The NC, established by FIFA in March 2020 after the side-lining of the elected executive headed by William Wallace is now 18 months into its two-year mandate.
“I was not satisfied by what was presented. What was presented was restating the FIFA mandate,” Browne stressed. “This being the AGM, I expected that the two important aspects of their mandate -- 1. To establish a debt repayment plan implementable by the TTFA administration, and 2. to review and amend the TTFA statues and regulations — would have been presented for the approval of the TTFA membership for approval, and those were not done,” he said.
“But rather,” Browne added, “there was emphasis on how this adjusted audited financial statement with the removal of the land value for the Government capital grant (for the Home of Football) should be approved by the membership. And several of the bright, young, qualified professionals who are now in the membership of the TTFA had concerns.”
In its press release on the AGM, the TTFA stated that there were items on the agenda that were not discussed that will be the subject of an Extraordinary General meeting (EGM) in 14 days.
These items included the approval of the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019; the expulsion of the Coaches Association; and “the admission for membership — pursuant to the Unified Football Coaches of T&T application.”
These items will be tabled at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be held in 14 days.
The release further stated: “The members are tasked to review the 2019 financial statements in detail and understand the implications to the TTFA, and table all additional questions to the external auditors Madan Ramnarine and Co. Madan Ramnarine and Co, the Chartered Accounting firm, was appointed as the organisation’s external auditors in 2018 by the TTFA membership.”
However, the EGM’s agenda notwithstanding, Browne told the Express, “it is my opinion that there is need to focus and report to the TTFA membership their recommendations as reflected in their mandate for the approval of the membership. And he added: “I doubt very much that that will be realised in the 14-day period where the focus is on the approval of the financial statement 2019 in order to continue to receive FIFA funding.”
And Browne who has putting in writing three questions still to be answered by the NC, had a further concern about the 2019 audit.
“I think that given the climate at this time, it would be wise of the chairman and the normalisation committee to give the assurance to the membership that once the audited financial statements 2019 are approved, they would not proceed to have the TTFA declared insolvent, which is a major concern expressed quietly by several of the members,” he said.
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Even IF insolvency is the best of a bunch of bad choices, there are those who want to continue milking this dead cow for every drop of sour milk.
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Is the TTFA now solvent Mr Hadad, NC?
T&T Guardian
Dear Editor,
Following the T&T Football Association (TTFA) annual general meeting (AGM) on Sunday, which was conducted by the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee (NC), there are more questions than answers.
The most alarming statement is an apparent reduction in asset value of the Home of Football (HOF) due to doubt over the ownership of the land used to build the project.
What has Robert Hadad, the chairman of the NC and his committee members Ms Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson) and Mr Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez (members) have been doing for the last 18 months to only now declare that a “material uncertainty exists which may cast significant doubt on the TTFA’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
If this situation is confirmed at the Emergency General Meeting (EGM) which is set for 14 days from Sunday, then the association cannot continue to operate and liquidation is inevitable.
Surely, the land must be part of the TTFA asset otherwise FIFA would not have funded the project as their own rules dictate.
If it is purely a case of tying up loose ends on the appropriate documentation which I would have thought was something Mr Hadad and his team should have addressed immediately upon their appointment.
It is also ironic to note that the 2022 budget is up for approval on the EGM agenda not to mention the recent two-year contracts given to National Coaching staff.
The important and urgent question for the NC to answer is whether the association is now officially insolvent or not as they have had 18 months to address the issue.
Only recently Mr Hadad and Mr Gomez was on i95.5FM telling the host Andre Baptiste that they were working on three solutions to raise funding using the HOF which would eliminate the debt issue but has now reduced its value substantially to the verge of insolvency.
Hopefully, the NC will clarify the true position at the EGM on October 10 and reverse their gloomy outlook accordingly.
The reduction in asset value of the HOF by the NC is alarming and surely disrespectful to the T&T Government who supported and inaugurated the project opening with a fanfare of euphoria and pride which was endorsed by the Prime Minister and the FIFA president himself in glowing terms.
Like all other football stakeholders I will wait on the EGM for further clarification.
Mike Berry
Football Intermediary (The FA)
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From day one to now, my only reaction to this NC foolishness is one big fat wet watery
SSSSTTTTEEEEUUUPPPSSS!!!
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NC: Looking for government, anyone's help to reduce debt
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
The option of dissolving the T&T Football Association (TTFA) is before Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad and his members, as attempts continue to deal with a debt that has rendered the association insolvent.
The association has been saddled with a $98.5 million debt which minuses the cost for the Home of Football (HOF) in Couva, said to be in the region of $42 million, for which Hadad came under fire at the TTFA's annual general meeting (AGM) on September 26.
In 2020, the sport's world governing body - FIFA, installed Hadad and his team as a replacement for a duly elected United TTFA that was led by William Wallace. That move was made based on a belief that the TTFA was on the brink of insolvency.
Yesterday, however, Hadad in an interview with Guardian Media Sports admitted that the embattled football association is insolvent, but made it clear it was not something they're looking at right now.
Asked if dissolution was an option available to him no, he said: "Absolutely, it is an option, but that is not something we're looking at right now.
"We're looking at other methods of raising the funding and some sort of process to repay that debt, either borrowing or advance that somebody would give us. Or somebody gives us a donation.
"There are many ways to deal with this debt issue, but it's not going to happen overnight, so we need the government involved, we need FIFA involved and we're having active discussions with everyone. Maybe contributions from a third party or multiple third parties, maybe contributions from different places, different sources.
"There is no doubt that we have the Home of Football. The HOF does have a value, and we have the land that the government has promised to lease to the association but that lease needs to be perfected.
"And at the end of the day, it is still a lease, we don't own the land."
The HADCO Group of Companies director on Monday welcomed the government's contribution to sports in its budget, saying apart from embracing the return of international sports in the new year, he now needs to talk to the Minister of Sports and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe as a means of clearing the existing debt.
"I would love to have a meeting with the minister so that we could talk about where football is going because we still have our debt and we still have to address the debt repayment and we need government's intervention in that and the support of the Sports Company (SporTT) and the Ministry of Sports.
"We need clearer pictures of where we're going with it, we definitely going to need to do that as soon as possible.
We're going to need government support also if we're going to return to some sort of League format. We've been doing some work on a unified league with a Division one and two and we're still in the process of making presentations to stakeholders, but we're again going to need the government's support, as they have done in the past because the teams are going to need some sponsorship from corporate Trinidad."
The process for the start of the proposed unified league is said to be near completion, Hadad said.
Following a presentation of the League by FIFA, the NC chairman said he has already given it his stamp of approval to the idea and it is now before his committee members to do the same. He explained that once approval is given by his members, the proposal of the league will be sent to the membership to sign off on.
Meanwhile, Hadad faces mounting pressure to offer explanations on questions from the membership on the financial state of the TTFA and to say why the cost of the land that houses the Home of Football was left off the audited financial statement.
Hadad at the AGM, deferred those questions to an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) to be held 14 days after that AGM on September 26 which is on Sunday (October 10). And quizzed on an update ahead of the EGM, Hadad said: "All the questions the stakeholders have asked about the financial statement have been forwarded to the auditors, and the auditors will now have to address those issues with the stakeholders.
"From where I sit, I would like to make just one statement, an audit is an independent view of a financial statement, it's not the view of the normalisation committee.
"So the auditors will be the only people to answer why they qualify or rather refuse to give an opinion on the financial statement. They would have to answer that. From where I sit, I can tell you we definitely have a solvency issue. The TTFA is insolvent, we do not have the cash flow to pay our debts and that's evident by the fact that you're seeing and hearing about so many court actions for how many years now.
"So we need to have cash flow and we need to address our debt-repayment issue."
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the government involved, we need FIFA involved and we're having active discussions with everyone.
The government need to get involve? Really ? And then for FIFA to say later that government get involve and dictate to the the TTFA. They only want the government to put out money.
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TTFA Normalisation Committee, what is really going on?
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)
The annual general meeting (AGM) of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association (TTFA) held recently seemed to have stirred up a hornet's nest with the football fraternity in the country seeking answers on the 2019 financials.
Admittedly, I am perplexed by the normalisation committee and its role. You see, I thought this committee was instituted to oversee the finances of the TTFA and to be totally transparent when it came to revenue (if any) and expenditure. Therefore, to read that members are seeking answers on financials is extremely disappointing.
FIFA’s media release dated March 17, 2020, noted that the committee was to fulfil four specific aims: (1) To run the TTFA’s daily affairs; I suppose that this is ongoing, for the most part, as every now and again, a release is published from the general secretary (Ag.) Amiel Mohammed or the chairman of the committee Robert Hadad making a statement on the news with either an appointment or the clarification of a query.
(2) To establish a debt repayment plan that is implemented by the TTFA; I will have to address that a little later on because I am completely baffled by that in terms of some statements attributed to Hadad.
(3) To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; - I do not have a clue if and when this is supposed to be done so naturally, I reached out to two individuals closely linked with football in T&T. One laughed sarcastically and said, “Boy I really don’t know. This normalisation committee is looking to shut down football in the country.” The other person said, “I have no idea.” At that point, I did not feel too bad as, to be honest, I did not want to admit that I, too, did not have a clue.
(4) To organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate. It appears elections of a new executive is not on the short term agenda of this normalisation committee. Perhaps, it is because they have not completely fulfilled their mandate given to them by FIFA. The normalisation committee was appointed in March 2020 and their mandate clearly states: “The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA”. The clock is slowly ticking for Hadad and his team as their 24 month term ends in March 2022.
Let us now focus on this debt repayment plan. Since the normalisation committee was appointed, presumably their most important mandate was to establish this plan, I would have assumed that the first order of business was to get all of TTFA’s financials in order.
Therefore, I was taken by surprise when I saw the Guardian headline on September 27, 2021 which read, “TTFA members seek answers on 2019 financials”. The audit was rejected at the AGM and I genuinely cannot understand why the normalisation committee failed to get approval for the 2019 audited financial statement. Maybe I am being totally naive but here is a committee appointed by the highest body in football with their mandate to look after the finances and debt repayment and they cannot even get the finances passed.
Further, if no approval of the audited financials are given, then decisions had to be deferred on the debt repayment plan if it even exists. As a result, TTFA is also unlikely to receive further funding from FIFA. Naturally, with the debt estimated at $98.5Million, some members enquired about the current debt and why a title or lease for the land that houses the so-called ‘Home of Football’ has not been acquired by the normalisation committee.
Why would the committee exclude the value of the land which is estimated at around $42Million? Something is not sitting right here. Wasn’t the land given to the TTFA by the government? FIFA gave the money and TTFA built the ‘Home of Football’. Everybody posed and smiled at the opening and gave lavish speeches and praises on this beautiful structure that was going to take TTFA out of debt and was supposed to be the shining light for the future of Trinidad & Tobago's football development.
From then to now, no deed or lease has been obtained by anyone. So let us be fair to the normalisation committee. They only came into office in March 2020 but from then to October 2021, they cannot get some documents from the government to satisfy the auditors? Stakeholders complain about footballing decisions made by the normalisation committee and while I can understand that they may lack the footballing knowledge, it is beyond me that when it comes to decisions not pertaining to football, they seem to get it all wrong. Who is responsible for obtaining this certificate? I cannot believe that football is at a standstill because of this.
Now, without that $42Million in the accounts and with the debt at $98.5Million, Hadad has admitted that the TTFA is insolvent but it is not something they are looking at right now.
I am even more confused - is it now that the normalisation committee is looking to raise funds? Is it now that the normalisation committee is looking at some sort of process to repay the debt that suddenly came upon them? Is it now they are looking for donations? Is it now they are looking for sponsors some 19 months into its two-year term?
Hadad goes on, “there are many ways to deal with this debt but it’s not going to happen overnight”. Really? Why is the government now getting involved? Surely, one should have been having dialogue with the government one year ago. All of a sudden the Minister of Sport and Community Development needs to be part of a discussion to clear the debt. I know that when I am allowed to go back into the sea (bizarre that waterparks are allowed to open before beaches), once the water starts to go from my feet to my knee to my waist to my head, it might be too late for me to survive so from the time I go into the water, I should have a plan.
Once more, football has remained at rock bottom. Meanwhile, Jamaica's premier division is in full flow with good, competitive matches played weekly while our football is at a standstill. No payment of players, no tournaments for the teams, no training and we are going nowhere fast. Well, as they say, another day in paradise.
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Awai tells members, TTFA not insolvent
...wants Hadad to get certificate of title for HoF land
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).
Mike Awai, a stakeholder in local football, is urging the membership of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) to not approve the audited financial accounts of the TTFA when it is presented for discussion and eventual vote at the TTFA Emergency General Meeting (EGM) on Sunday.
Awai, the former AC Port of Spain Business Development Manager, has been angered by a Guardian Media report on Wednesday that confirmed that the embattled football association is insolvent, and is now calling on Robert Hadad, the chairman of a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee to get a certificate of title for the land housing the controversial "Home of Football" (HoF) in Balmain, Couva that will be accepted by the auditors.
Awai said for such a businessman, a certificate of that nature would be at his fingertips or at the call of his phone.
Determining the solvency of the football association will be done at the EGM. At present, the TTFA is in need of the audited financials of the association to be approved if it is to received monies from FIFA.
The EGM became the next step after AGM deferred discussions on the issue of the audited financial statement and the lease for the Home of Football at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the TTFA on September 26. At that meeting, the accounts were presented minus the value for the land that houses the Home of Football, said to be estimated at $42 million.
In July, Hadad issued a statement that put the TTFA debt at $98.5 million.
Leading the discussions were the Veteran Football Foundation of T&T (VFFOTT) and T&T Pro League campaigners W Connection Football Club, both of which penned letters to the normalisation committee before and after the AGM, demanding answers on the matter.
However, David John-Williams, a former president of TTFA who was responsible for ensuring that approved audited financial reached into the hands of the FIFA in 2018 and 2019 for the first time since 2008, has promised to offer a statement after the EGM. John-Williams is also responsible for securing the land for the Home of Football from the government.
In the meanwhile, Awai who has been attempting to find answers for the football quagmire, was livid when he saw statements from the local football boss and said on Wednesday: “What is wrong with Hadad? He took 18 months to figure out that he does not have a plan. What has he been doing? What is his mantra?
"Isn’t it to fix the constitution, to prepare fresh election and have a debt repayment plan? I am going to send an email to all the stakeholders because I have the whole listing of them.
"I am going to make an appeal to the stakeholders, not to approve the audited accounts because the TTFA is not insolvent.
"Eighteen (18) months and we can’t get a certificate of title, 18 months and we can’t get a proposal for the repayment plan and now all of a sudden, after 18 months he is now asking the government to talk, he could have done that a year ago and they might have done something small for us in the budget.”
Awai, the owner and founder of the FUTGOF Football Academy, has been avoiding calls to enter the fray ahead of the coming elections of the TTFA. However, he has been bitterly disappointed with the work done by Hadad and his committee members to date, saying they have not achieved a single item of their mandate by FIFA.
A week ago, Awai came up with two theories why the NC would want the TTFA to be insolvent, and one entailed the possibility of avoiding the huge debt that has crippled local football for many years.
Sunday’s EGM is expected to be intense but Hadad is assuring members that answers to their questions will come but just not from him. Apart from revealing the financial status of the TTFA, Hadad also said that the independent auditors will be the ones to provide the answers to the questions of the members.
Awai believes that if the membership approves the audited financials, they will indirectly be giving up their power and control of the assets of the TTFA.
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President of the Veteran Footballers Foundation, Selby Browne, says the FIFA appointed normalization committee is an excellent one comprised of competent individuals in their respective fields. But he's now calling for a more collaborative relationship to take shape between the committee and the TTFA membership in the best interest of football in T&T.
https://www.youtube.com/v/JEnweyfHIks
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Hadad must go: TTFA delegates discuss issues at EGM today
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
FIFA appointed him. However, the guns might be trained on Robert Hadad when well over 60 delegates of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) meet at today’s virtual extraordinary general meeting, which begins at 10 a.m.
One of those stakeholders, Selby Browne of the Veterans Football Association of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT), thinks local businessman Hadad has some explaining to do.
“The public pronouncement of Robert Hadad on the TTFA being insolvent can only be considered grounds for his immediate removal as chairman of the TTFA normalisation committee,” Browne has stated.
“The chairman of the normalisation committee had a responsibility to make his statements at his first AGM of the TTFA held on September 26, 2021, and he unfortunately failed to do so,” Browne said.
While admitting Hadad might have done some work, such as running the TTFA’s daily affairs, the VFFOTT president thinks the businessman has failed in at least two major areas of his mandate—to formulate a procedure for liquidation of the TTFA’s near-$100 million debt, and also reforming the TTFA constitution to meet FIFA statutes. Browne also accused Hadad of communicating with no one—TTFA board members, delegates, clubs, creditors, national footballers or coaches.
“The TTFA belongs to its membership and is not the personal asset of any individual,” Browne declared. “Finally on Sunday, it’s all up to the delegates, the membership who are owners of the TTFA, to take the decision on the TTFA and no one else.”
Two weeks ago, at the first AGM since the Hadad-led normalisation committee was installed, TTFA members refused to approve the 2019 financials presented by the NC. Of concern to the membership was the de-listing of the $42 million Home of Football as one of the TTFA’s assets, because the NC citied the lack of an official Government deed for the State-donated land on which the Couva HoF is located.
Browne said that from private discussions among delegates, some feel the normalisation committee is intent on dissolving the TTFA, as it now stands.
“They have decided this is a lost cause and it’s insolvent,” said Browne, himself a businessman.
Browne further stated that before acceding to the approval of the TTFA’s 2019 financial statements, VFFOTT will like certain assurances.
“Is the normalisation committee prepared to make a declaration to delegates of the EGM, which states: “The normalisation committee shall not take any action to declare the TTFA insolvent upon approval of the audited financial.”
Like James Thomas, whom the normalisation committee allowed to leave his TTFA role in the last few days, Browne, at least, wouldn’t mind seeing Hadad ride off into the sunset as well.
However, he also suggested in ending: “Maybe the NC will bear great tidings from the finances of FIFA or the GovTT to be the recommendations for treating with the debt.”
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FIFA could extend NC control of the TTFA — Browne.
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian).
There is a possibility that comes March 27, 2022, the stranglehold on the T&T Football Association (TTFA) by the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee could be extended.
This is according to Selby Browne of the Veteran Football Foundation of T&T (VFFOTT) who spoke to Guardian Media Sports on Monday about what the progress was made to date by the Robert Hadad-led NC since being appointed to take control of local football federation following the removal from office of the duly elected William Wallace, who defeated incumbent David John-Williams in the November 2019 T&TFA elections.
Back then FIFA in its letter of appointment said: The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a Normalisation Committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with article. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA.
The mission which took place in February 2020, found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.
Therefore, the mandate of the Normalisation Committee will include the following:
· to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;
· to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
· to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
· to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
The Normalisation Committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with Concacaf. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the Normalisation Committee will be subject to an eligibility check.
The Normalisation Committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances. The specified period of time during which the Normalisation Committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its assigned tasks, but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA.
However, Browne was quick to point out that the date for the new T&TFA elections is just about five months but the Normalisation Committee is yet to get done what they were appointed to do.
He added, “So it is my view that ahead of the next T&TFA election it is the prerogative of FIFA to extend or consider the extension of the tenure of the Normalisation Committee. For how long it may do so or what process it entails, I don’t know, but we (T&TFA membership) are not ready or have not received any information. But I do the thing it is possible unless we will have a host of proposals presented during the final quarter of 2021 for consideration by the membership, and that I expect.”
Reflecting on the appointment of the NC and the lack of communication or information coming to the membership, Browne stated, “We have less than five months to the end of the NC reign and FIFA has taken a decision to pay an NC to provide recommendations to the T&TFA membership. They were given a mandate of two years, and it is now to find out from the NC whether if they are ready to any recommendations."
However, Browne said he doubted the NC led by chairman Robert Hadad was ready to do so.
He explained, “My personal view is that the NC got distracted with running the day-to-day affairs of football like the preparations of the teams for the World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup qualifiers and the women’s team, things they were not really prepared for.”
But in their defence, Browne stated, "Remember these are professionals in the own right, but they are not efficient at the business of football,” said Browne.
On Sunday, the Normalisation Committee-led T&TFA was able to approve the 2019 audited financials at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) hosted by the Robert Hadad-led NC Sunday virtually with the TTFA membership.
The EGM was called as a direct consequence of the motions passed by the TTFA Members at the annual general meeting (AGM) which was held on September 26 where the membership required further time to review the 2019 audited financial statements in detail, understanding the implications to the TTFA, and tabled all additional questions to the external auditors Madan Ramnarine and Co and the Normalisation Committee.
According to a release from TTFA’s acting general secretary Amiel Mohammed those questions were received before the EGM and addressed by the auditors and the Normalisation Committee.
And following further discussions on the topic at Sunday’s meeting, the 2019 audited financials were approved by the TTFA membership by a clear majority vote.
Additionally, during the EGM, the T&TFA membership ratified the expulsion of the Coaches Association from the membership to correct a motion that was not properly executed, as per the TTFA constitution, at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on April 21, 2018.
Following this decision, the TTFA Membership admitted the Unified Football Coaches of T&T (UFCTT) and welcomed them as the newest member of the TTFA.
Commenting on the EGM, Browne said the T&TFA made great progress.
He said, “We are in a better place than we were a day before and it’s the first time that there was a dialogue with a meaningful discussion between the NC and the membership.
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Normalisation committee urged to communicate with TTFA members.
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday).
SELBY BROWNE, president of the Veterans Football Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT), is urging the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee to maintain a level of communication with the membership of the TT Football Association (TTFA).
Browne was speaking in an interview on Monday, a day after the normalisation committee, which oversees the daily affairs of the TTFA, held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), to approve the audited financial statements for 2019, ratify the expulsion of the Coaches Association of TT from its membership, and welcome the Unified Football Coaches of TT to its fold.
“It was the best thing that happened to the TTFA, progress was made. We’re in a better place now,” was Browne’s view on Sunday’s EGM. “For the very first time, there were truthful discussions between the membership and the normalisation committee. That is the only way that we can make progress and move things forward.”
The normalisation committee (chairman Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano and Nicholas Gomez) held its annual general meeting (AGM) on September 25, the first time they held an AGM since they were appointed in March, 2020 to replace the TTFA executive, led by William Wallace.
“It was made abundantly clear that the normalisation committee had boxed themselves into a corner with the desperate need to have the approval of the audited financial statements of 2019,” said Browne. “The point was made to the chairman that the failure of the normalisation committee were three important things – communication, communication and communication.”
According to Browne, who served as vice-president during the tenure of David John-Williams as TTFA president, “The normalisation committee has understood, for the first time, their roles and functions. In my humble view, of the points issued in their mandate, (another) one should have been added, which is communicate with your membership as quickly as possible, and far more progress would have been made, because there were straightforward questions that were asked, and there was the demand for direct answers, especially from the chairman.”
Merere Gonzales, president of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), who described the meeting as “rather successful, productive, meaningful and positive”, is also hopeful that there will be light at the end of the tunnel for TT football, at least from an administrative level.
“I believe, while there are various challenges which didn’t occur overnight, I am seeing a more genuine interest by persons to see if they can re-engage, revamp and return the image of Trinidad and Tobago football to where it rightfully deserves,” said Gonzales. “It’s just that, along the way, you will have some unique challenges, either by persons or by circumstances, that can sometimes create a stumbling block.”
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“No different than John-Williams!” Hadad-led NC accused of ‘hiding money’ from creditors.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical director and Men’s National Senior Team player Kendall Walkes has accused the Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee of hiding money from its creditors.
Walkes, who won a TT$5.1m award in the Port-of-Spain High Court for breach of contract against the David John-Williams-led administration in 2015, has not gotten a cent from the local football body since he was allowed to empty the TTFA’s accounts on 16 March 2020.
Ironically, Walkes’ case was used as justification for Fifa’s decision to ‘normalise’ the TTFA to address its critical debt situation. The Bureau of the Fifa Council appointed Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano on 27 March 2020 to supervise a ‘debt repayment plan’ for the two-island republic.
Nineteen months later, though, Walkes said he saw no evidence of a debt plan at all. In fact, he said things are now worse than under former president William Wallace—whom Fifa president Gianni Infantino dramatically removed—with Hadad refusing to have meaningful dialogue with him.
In the absence of information, there has been speculation within local football circles that perhaps the normalisation committee’s inability to pay office staff, coaches and players in a timely manner is attributable to its surreptitious payment of prior debts.
Walkes insisted that Hadad and his gang are certainly not addressing his outstanding money.
“They owe me every penny that was awarded to me [by the High Court] and more,” Walkes told Wired868. “When I garnisheed their account [at First Citizens Bank] when the new [Wallace-led] administration had come in, there was maybe US$55,000 there—that was it… Since then, they have moved their money because we examined their accounts again and the account was dry.
“They hid the money somewhere else. I was told that they are paying guys directly into their accounts. They would still have to declare to Fifa what bank they are using because their subventions have to come here but there is a tight lid on it.”
Fifa law dictates that the world governing body can only deposit money into an account taken out in its name within the borders of the member association. However, the normalisation committee members are direct employees of Fifa.
In short, wherever Hadad and committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez are putting the TTFA’s money, it could not be without Fifa’s approval.
“The payroll continues, so which local bank is it coming through?” Walkes asked. “My lawyer has served them a court order to disclose what financial institutions they are working through, so their creditors can know. How is that going to go? I don’t know.
“Every time my lawyer has contacted them so far, we get a short answer: they don’t have any money. I don’t know if it is on Fifa to tell anyone what financial institution the association is working through, but I know the TTFA is being tight-lipped on it.”
Former Men’s National Senior Team head coach Stephen Hart and ex-technical director Anton Corneal are the TTFA’s second and third largest creditors, to the tune of TT$5 million and TT$3.5 million respectively.
Both echoed Walkes’ position. They don’t know who, if anyone, has been getting money out of the normalisation committee—but it certainly is not they!
“There is nothing to tell really,” said Hart, when asked for an update regarding his outstanding money. “There has not even been a courtesy call [from the normalisation committee] in the last six-plus months. It’s clear the TTFA/Fifa normalisation or whatever clearly have no intention of paying debts.
“There is not even a plan moving forward.”
Corneal concurred.
“I have not been paid,” said Corneal, “and no arrangement has been made yet for me.”
Trade Winds director Susan Phargoo, whose travel agency is owed just over TT$500,000, said local service providers are not faring any better. Even as Phargoo conceded that the TTFA had acknowledged its debt to her company, she said the normalisation committee is using other travel agents for their teams’ overseas assignments while ignoring its debt to her.
“We have full admittance from TTFA of the outstanding debt—yet they’re paying other travel agencies and not clearing our outstanding money,” said Phargoo. “We have no update at present or any confirmation from TTFA on when the debt will be settled. But we are diligently pursuing our legal options.”
Former Soca Warriors head coach Dennis Lawrence had another two years on his contract at US$17,000 per month, when he was sacked by the TTFA Board in December 2019. It is uncertain what the outstanding balance is but it is estimated at roughly TT$3m.
Lawrence’s agent, Mike Berry, said the former 2006 World Cup hero is now turning to the courts after growing frustrated with the Hadad-led normalisation committee. He too said he has not been paid a cent.
“There was minimal contact initially in the first two months but it has only been legal communication ever since,” said Berry. “I asked Hadad ‘why don’t you reach out to Dennis, why don’t you talk to him?’ But he did nothing. It is terrible.
“[…] It is ludicrous that we are now in the fifth year since the non-payment of his bonus for the win against the USA [on 10 October 2017]. Everybody got paid for that game except Dennis. It is scandalous really.”
Walkes has since returned to the United States, where he has lived since accepting a ‘soccer’ scholarship in the 1980s. A former coach at US collegiate level, he was technical director at the US Virgin Islands when the TTFA asked him to oversee the development of the game on the two-island republic in 2015.
“After giving to a foreign country for my whole adult life, I thought it was a chance to give back to my own country,” said Walkes, “and it turned out to be the worst thing ever. It was like walking into Caesar’s court, where I am being stabbed all over.
“Had I stayed in ‘VI’, I am sure I would still be there. Look at [Russell] Latapy who has been in Barbados for as long as he was in Trinidad or even longer. [Trinidad and Tobago] don’t treat their own properly at all.
“[…] Here, I walk into the room and they say ‘I have heard so many good things about you’. You get that respect. And you go home and you are among your own and they are the ones who stab you the deepest.
“[…] Up here, the pros get together all the time to try to come up with ideas that are best for their country. In Trinidad, they are just fighting each other all the time.”
Berry, an Englishman, also pointed out the nationality of the four committee members—Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez—who he felt were disrespecting his client, a Chaconia Medal recipient for outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago with the 2006 World Cup team.
“There is no empathy, no communication really, and no respect at all!” Berry said. “And we are talking Trinis to Trinis, not British colonials to Trinis. There are four Trinidadians on that committee.
“What are they even doing after all this time? It is as if they spend one day a week, if that much, attending to normalisation committee business and really couldn’t be bothered otherwise.
“I would think they would be preparing the election process by now [as their term is due to end in March 2022]. There has not even been a mention of that.”
Article 22 of Fifa’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players stipulates that the world governing body will only get involved in disputes when there is an ‘international dimension’.
Fifa: ‘Without prejudice to the right of any player, coach, association, or club to seek redress before a civil court for employment-related disputes, Fifa is competent to hear: […] employment-related disputes between a club or an association and a coach of an international dimension…’
Berry saw that law work in practice. After Wallace dismissed the Men’s National Senior Team staff, Lawrence and assistant coach Stuart Charles-Février turned to Fifa for help.
Février is St Lucian but has lived in Trinidad and Tobago since 1999, when he was appointed as head coach of W Connection FC while he also spent most of his playing years in the two-island republic.
(Février was even invited—but declined—to represent the Strike Squad in the 1990 World Cup qualifying campaign, as St Lucia only received Fifa affiliation in 1988.)
Lawrence holds a British passport and has lived in the United Kingdom since 2001.
Yet, Fifa declared that Lawrence was a Trinidad and Tobago citizen and there was no ‘international dimension’ to his dispute with the TTFA, while Février was considered a foreigner.
And, as was the case with Norwegian Even Pellerud, Dutchman Wim Rijbergen and others, Fifa paid Février directly from the TTFA subvention while Lawrence is forced to follow Hart, Corneal and Walkes to court. Ironically, the latter trio also have dual citizenship.
Using that same law, Fifa would step in to assist Englishman Terry Fenwick if his contract was not being respected, even as Fifa’s own employees, Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Gomez, are allegedly hiding income from unpaid local coaches.
“It is a disgrace and I think it is so wrong and against the principles of Fifa for fair play,” said Berry, of Article 22. “[…] I think in the future that law has to change, so everyone gets the same treatment.”
Walkes told Wired868 that, despite his hurt, he cannot help but think about the state of Trinidad and Tobago football and said he is in regular communication with iconic Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) coach and former TTFA technical committee member Michael Grayson.
“For some reason, my mind always drifts to how can I help football back home,” he said. “When there are new trends in the game, I always wonder if they are paying attention to what is happening—and I pick up the phone and talk to Mikey about that all the time.”
Walkes was critical of his former national teammate Richard Chinapoo’s role in a TTFA ‘ad hoc selection panel’ created by the normalisation committee, which was responsible for the selection of Angus Eve and James Thomas as head coach of the men’s and women’s programmes respectively.
“Chinapoo has only coached youth level in the States, like under-15s down, apart from being player/coach at indoor level more than 20 years ago,” said Walkes. “I left the international game in 2018 and I don’t think I am in a position to make decisions on [what coaches are] out there. I would have to make extensive calls and so on to familiarise myself with the market.
“He has never even been in it. I texted ‘Chinas’ and asked ‘why the hell would you be on a selection committee?’”
Walkes sent Chinapoo another text when Thomas quit the Women’s National Senior Team head post to take up the post of Bristol City Women and Girls youth development manager.
“I said ‘great vetting on women’s coach’,” he said. “Now [Thomas] can put Trinidad and Tobago on his résumé so he can get a bigger job.”
Walkes was critical too of the ‘work’ being done by current technical director Dion La Foucade, who he said ‘totally missed the boat’ in terms of productively using theCovid-19 pandemic- provoked absence from the playing fields.
“Fifa has a library archive that gives you CDs on small-side game situations—from one v one all the way to six v six,” said Walkes. “You can access it as a coach in a member association. If there is a topic I wanted to drill on, I can go and look at it for a bit to get ideas.
“Dion has all that at his fingertips and he could be creating from that to share with players stuck at home, or with coaches to add to what they might be doing.
“A whole year has passed and all the youngsters are sitting at home and you have done nothing to massage their love for football. That is criminal as the technical director.”
Walkes did not trust himself to articulate his feelings on Hadad and his associates.
“I don’t know what ‘NC’ means anymore but I can think of a lot of things,” he said, with a laugh. “Fifa said Wallace and them were driving the FA into debt, so they moved them out and tasked these people with fixing it—but I have heard nothing from them.
“I hope when my lawyer serves them that they can at least say something. They are no different than John-Williams, who would not communicate at all.
“All the smoke that was around John-Williams and the Fifa guy from Africa (Veron Mosengo-Omba) about their alleged handling of money for the Home of Football. That was such a hot topic, yet it has just gone away as soon as the normalisation committee got in; and these guys get to sleep comfortably at night. It is nuts.”
Hadad did not respond to Wired868’s request for comment on the concerns raised by the TTFA creditors.
RELATED NEWS
‘Unworkable!’ Ferguson, Lewis, Look Loy and Wallace discuss Hadad’s debt plan and suggest how to rescue TTFA.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
On 5 October 2021, Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad shared his idea for addressing the debt of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association with the Trinidad Guardian.
“We’re looking at other methods of raising the funding and some sort of process to repay that debt, either borrowing or [an] advance that somebody would give us—or somebody gives us a donation,” said Hadad, who was appointed to the helm of the TTFA on 27 March 2020. “There are many ways to deal with this debt issue, but it’s not going to happen overnight, so we need the government involved, we need Fifa involved and we’re having active discussions with everyone.
“Maybe contributions from a third party or multiple third parties, maybe contributions from different places, different sources…”
Hadad, after 19 months on the job, is yet to hold a media conference to discuss his stewardship or ideas for the TTFA while TTFA members complained frequently about the inaccessibility of the committee.
So what do local football stakeholders make of the work done by the committee, which comprises Hadad, vice-chair Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano, and Trevor Nicholas Gomez?
Wired868 spoke to former TTFA president William Wallace, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis, ex-TTFA Board member Keith Look Loy, and former local football presidential candidate Richard Ferguson on the normalisation committee’s job so far, and, in particular, Hadad’s comments about addressing the TTFA’s debt.
Wallace was removed by the Bureau of the Fifa Council, headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino—on 17 March 2020, just four months after his election—due to the world governing body’s supposed concern at the TTFA’s ‘massive debt’ and ‘very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity’.
Almost two years later, the TTFA’s financial situation has not improved. Wallace suggested that Hadad’s inability to point to any real debt repayment plan is proof that Fifa misled Trinidad and Tobago about its intentions here.
“The people in and out of the TTFA who were making all the noise never took time to understand what ‘normalisation’ meant in the context of what we were faced with,” Wallace told Wired868. “The impression that Fifa would liquidate the debt seemed to be the understanding among many. That thinking led me to publicly state that, if that was so, I would immediately step aside.
“[…] All the voices that reverberated at the many levels [for me to accept normalisation] are now strangely silent. Fifa took the microscope away from itself and DJW (David John-Williams) and to hell with everybody now.”
Wallace’s former Board member, Look Loy, echoed Wallace’s view as he mocked the ‘neophytes’ of the normalisation committee.
“I have always maintained that the true rationale behind Fifa’s action was/is to prevent the United TTFA administration from untangling the financial mess left behind by the last (David John-Williams-led) administration,” said Look Loy, “and to cover its financial impropriety and mismanagement, which Fifa must have been aware of.
“The world body inflicted absolute neophytes—supposed leaders of business and management—on the Association. It is no surprise that they don’t have the first idea how to proceed with their responsibilities and are now begging the government, Fifa itself, and indeed anyone, for a handout.”
Lewis, who is also part of the local football ecosystem through his membership at the Harvard Sports Club, suggested that the TTFA’s leaders should spend less time looking at the cash flow statement and focus more on the cash flow projection.
The outgoing TTOC president insisted that the local football debt, which is estimated at around TT$50 mil, is not insurmountable. However, he said more ‘resourceful and entrepreneurial thinking’ is needed at the helm.
“Crunching the numbers and looking at the TTFA debt from a purely financial, accounting and book-keeping perspective is not or ought not to be the singular focus,” said Lewis. “What’s the vision for the future? The vision will drive the mindset [and] it can’t be based on the numbers and arithmetic alone. It has to include the passion and purpose for the positive difference [that] football can make to the youth and young people and citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
“[…] The financial experts and financial engineers may know everything about finance and money but the TTFA is more than number crunching. It’s about people and their passion for football.”
Ferguson, a businessman and accountant by trade, went further. The Terminix La Horquetta Rangers suggested why Hadad’s proposed debt repayment plan was not only unworkable but ‘ridiculous’.
“You can’t ask the government to fund the TTFA’s debt, because you’re telling the country they have to pay for all the mistakes the TTFA’s management made, which is not fair,” Ferguson told Wired868. “You are also setting a precedent that the government has to bail out companies that are doing stupidness. And you can’t be telling Fifa that any member that wastes its money paying coaches TT$250,000 a month can turn to them and ask them to pay it. That is a terrible precedent and that plan is unsustainable and goes against the grain of financial propriety.
“No, you have to take some financial responsibility. Going to the government with a plan like that is just ridiculous.”
Did Ferguson have a suggestion then?
In fact, he does. And he shared it with Hadad, he said, months ago. The normalisation committee, he claimed, did not even offer him the courtesy of a proper response.
“If your income is $100, you have to save $10 for whatever unforeseen problems may arise, then you spend $60 on things that generate income and $30 you spend on things you consume,” said Ferguson. “That is very basic management. But he is not doing that. He wants to spend $150. You have to spend on things that make money and he is not doing it.
“[…] They had a job to do. They had to prepare a debt repayment plan and to organise constitutional reform, which they haven’t done. We did it and sent it to them and they ignored it. So you would think they have something better. But [what] he is talking about is worse.”
Ferguson said it is extremely difficult to get usable financial information from the Hadad-led normalisation committee. However, he said their inability to pay staff, coaches and players in a timely manner was an indication that Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Gomez are not managing the affairs properly.
For the Rangers director, the path to becoming debt free—and he suggested that the TTFA’s real debt is roughly TT$45m—passes through stringent financial measures.
“He has to cut all his expenses and stop living like a billionaire,” said Ferguson. “Use local coaches and don’t pay them more than TT$10,000 per month. You have to bite the bullet and pay for sins of the past.
“The TTFA’s income from Fifa is about TT$20m. So say we take TT$10m and put it towards the debt and live on TT$10m. That way, you can pay off most of that debt in five years. It is a bitter pill to swallow but you have to be prudent.
“[…] He thinks Fifa are going to come and pay off TT$100m just so? He has to be mad. The plan must be sustainable and it must make financial sense.
“The TTFA can deal with this debt on its own if they manage it properly, but he doesn’t seem to want to be prudent… If he is getting $10, he wants to spend $35. I say spend $3.”
Wallace agreed that Hadad’s two main proposed sources of debt relief were, based on his information, non-starters.
“If there is still hope in Fifa paying the debt, then there is information that the normalisation committee has that we are not privy to,” said Wallace. “As far as the Government is concerned, Prime Minister [Dr Keith Rowley] indicated to me then that he was not willing to use taxpayers’ money to deal with the debt and I agreed with him. If that position has since changed, I am happy for the TTFA.”
Lewis, like Ferguson, believes the TTFA’s debt can be approached with more creativity than simply requesting a handout. Whereas Ferguson focused on cutting costs, Lewis pointed to a potential revenue-generating asset.
“Slaying the dragon of indebtedness is by no means a simple or easy task for the TTFA but it can be done with creativity and taking calculated risks,” said Lewis. “But there must be a willingness to listen to the football stakeholders who have the passion for the sport… In terms of [raising finances], I still feel the Home of Football is a critical success factor and a key asset for the TTFA.”
Ferguson said the TTFA’s current reality is not as bleak as suggested by the normalisation committee’s auditor’s report, which described the local football body as ‘a going concern’.
“In accounting, the rule is if a company is unable to meet its debts, you have to prepare the accounts as ‘a going concern’, which means the debt is greater than the assets—that it can’t continue,” said Ferguson. “But the standard also goes on to say if the owners can prove the company can continue, then you continue to prepare it as normal.
“The fact is the TTFA has been insolvent for many years, but it is not a going concern because Fifa (a billion-dollar organisation) is directly involved and came into it to make sure it is sustained. So it is not a going concern according to international accounting standards.”
Invariably, the focus shifted to Fifa’s reasons for being here, its oversight of the local football over the past 19 months and, in particular, the work done by Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Gomez.
“The normalisation committee was imposed by Fifa ostensibly to devise a debt reduction plan and to effect it and to revise TTFA’s Constitution,” said Look Loy, “[…] but the normalisation committee has accomplished absolutely nothing. It is an absolute failure at its ostensible mandate.
“At its real purpose, it has been an outstanding success.
“Imagine, this is what representatives of government, the overwhelming majority of TTFA members and the general public demanded United TTFA should abandon its fight to allow. Ultimately, people get the government they deserve.”
Wallace said he ran for TTFA president to ‘help to make a difference’ to the state of the local game. He felt he was moved aside for an unelected businessman who has fared, at the very least, no better.
“It pains me to see that we have not moved football and the TTFA forward after all the ‘noise’,” said Wallace. “It is also sad that a plan to deal with the debt by the duly elected executive was never even given a chance to fail.”
The Hadad-led committee had ‘a limit of 24 months imposed on it from the start by the Bureau of the Fifa Council. It means the normalisation committee should be replaced by 26 March 2022, just five months or 24 weeks from today.
Ferguson said Hadad has been such an abject failure at his mandate that he is forced to wonder if there is an ulterior motive.
“There is a concept that if you go in the kitchen and you make a mess, then you clean it up,” said Ferguson. “Don’t wake up your mother and father to clean it up.
“My point is the revenue is there to clean up the mess but they want to eat their cake and have it too. That plan he has to address the debt is erroneous and unworkable.
“But maybe that plan is so he won’t have to relinquish that [normalisation committee] position. Maybe he wants to stay for another five years…”
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TTFA Normalisation Committee appoints Trustee to negotiate debt repayment.
TTFA Media.
The FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has moved one step closer to developing an implementable plan to address the TTFA’s long-term debt.
An Ernst & Young report, dated April 09, 2021, put the TTFA’s total outstanding liabilities and unasserted claims (contingent liabilities) at approximately TT$98.5 million.
The NC today (Monday November 8, 2021) notified the Supervisor of Insolvency of its intent to make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago which will enable a structured approach to the restructuring of the TTFA and the preparation of a fair, transparent and acceptable payment proposal to address the TTFA’s debt.
This process as it was designed, will allow the TTFA to manage its operations and provide a stay from all legal proceedings and creditor actions for a period of up to 6 months, thereby securing the TTFA’s assets while the management and NC work under the oversight of the independent Trustee to develop and present a proposal to address the TTFA’s debt to all creditors.
The NC has appointed Maria Daniel, a Licensed Trustee, to manage the debt proposal process, which will be guided by the rules of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Chapter 9:70. The process will include meetings with and the submission of claims (and supporting documents) by all creditors; a review and verification of the claims; and the development of a proposal to deal with the valid outstanding liabilities. Once the proposal has been developed and approved by the creditors, it will be sanctioned by the Courts and the NC will proceed to implement the proposal in accordance with its terms. During the development of the proposal and its implementation, the NC’s day-to-day management of the TTFA will be unaffected.
Commenting on the decision to seek protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, NC chairman Robert Hadad said: “The TTFA is currently hamstrung with debt, and we can’t allow past mismanagement and poor governance to cripple the future of football or indeed its daily operations.
“This option, under the supervision of the Supervisor of Insolvency, the Trustee and the courts, ensures transparency, equity and independence in the process while, at the same time, ensuring that our current subventions are used for the day-to-day running of the TTFA and its present and future needs. The intent is to rehabilitate as opposed to dissolve the TTFA with a view to preserving continuity and the development of football in Trinidad and Tobago for future generations.”
MORE – BACKGROUND
On March 17th, 2020, the international governing body for football, the Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA), announced the Bureau of FIFA Council’s decision to appoint a normalization committee (NC), in accordance with Art. 8 Par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
The mandate given to the NC included:
• Run the TTFA’s daily affairs
• Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA
• Review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; and
• Organize and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
FIFA appointed Mr. Robert Hadad (Chairperson), Ms. Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson), Mr. Nigel L. Romano (Member) and Mr. Trevor (Nicholas) Gomez (Member) to serve as members of the Normalization Committee (NC). One (1) additional committee member can be appointed. The NC’s tenure, which includes acting as an electoral committee “as none of these members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances,” expires upon the execution of their mandate “but no later than 24 months after its members have been official appointed by FIFA.”
MORE – QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Has the Normalisation Committee filed for Bankruptcy? Is the TTFA now bankrupt?
No. The Normalisation Committee has neither filed for bankruptcy nor has the TTFA been put into bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago provides an avenue for individuals or organisations in financial difficulty to seek the protection of the Courts from litigation while they develop a payment proposal and negotiate with creditors to settle outstanding debt through a court supervised process that is fair, transparent, and equitable.
What happens to the individuals or organisations that have made successful claims against the TTFA in Court?
A stay of all such proceedings was automatically triggered by the filing of the Notice of Intent on November 8th 2021. This, in effect, will ensure that all creditors are treated equitably in the settlement of the TTFA’s debt.
Given the $98 million debt, how does the NC / TTFA plan to continue funding the running of football?
Filing the Notice of Intent to develop a payment proposal for creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, gives the TTFA the protection of the Courts from claims on its current and future income – the TTFA’s existing assets will be used to deal with the existing debt. The day-to-day operations of the TTFA and future football activity will be funded with subventions from FIFA in the first instance.
What is the total value of the TTFA’s assets?
An independent third-party valuation is to be conducted to determine that figure.
Will the Home of Football be sold?
At this stage, all options are on the table; the sale of the Home of Football is definitely an option.
When will creditors be paid?
Acting under the supervision of the court, and guided by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, 2007, the TTFA has to develop a repayment proposal under the oversight of the Independent Trustee and get the approval of the creditors in a period of up to six months. The process will include meetings with and the submission of claims (and supporting documents) by all creditors; a review and verification of the claims; and the development of an approved repayment proposal to deal with all valid outstanding liabilities. Following this, a timeline will be agreed for payment to creditors.
Will creditors be paid in full?
The repayment proposal will be determined by the funding available to pay creditors, and will be made after all claims have been reviewed and verified by the Independent Trustee and those verified claims weighed against the TTFA’s ability to pay.
Is the NC taking this action so that it can extend its term beyond March 2022?
The tenure of the NC is wholly in the hands of FIFA. The decision to file a Notice of Intent to develop a repayment proposal for the TTFA’s creditors was taken because it is a court supervised process that ensures transparency, equity and independence while, at the same time, ensuring that the TTFA’s current subventions are used for the day-to-day running of the TTFA and its present and future needs.
How has the Association accumulated $98.5 million in debt and unasserted claims? Over how many years has this debt been accumulating? Who was responsible for this mismanagement over these years?
Decades of poor governance and a lack of proper internal controls characterized the operations of successive TTFA administrations and is the root cause for poor financial health and overall operational performance of the TTFA.
Has the Association accumulated additional debt since the NC was appointed?
No. During the past 12 months the NC has focused on improving the systems of governance and controls and has implemented several operational improvements, including the preparation of monthly management accounts; the introduction of improved compliance processes and procedures; enhanced systems and accounting software; and reviews by EY, FIFA and CONCACAF. The NC is in the process of implementing EY’s recommendations for new policies and procedures, use of technology and improved governance.
I know you indicated that the value of the accumulated debt and unasserted claims of the Association as at April 2021 is $98.5 million but what is the value of the Association’s assets?
An independent third-party valuation is to be conducted to determine that figure.
Why did the Association not seek funding relief from FIFA and GORTT to repay the debts of the Association?
Neither FIFA nor the GORTT has any legal obligation to repay debt accumulated by the TTFA as a result of mismanagement and poor governance.
The matter of contingent liabilities as at April 2021, what is the value of these liabilities, to whom are they due, and for what? Are these liabilities likely to crystallise and will they form part of the liabilities that the Association will have to settle?
The Licensed Trustee will meet with all creditors to ascertain the validity of each claim and make a final determination.
Why did the Association not simply take a loan from a bank or other lending institution equivalent to the liability and pay off its creditors?
With its accumulated debt and track record of poor management and governance, the TTFA would not qualify for a loan of the size necessary to settle its debt.
The NC has the responsibility, under their mandate, to develop a debt repayment plan. Why are they passing off their responsibilities assigned by FIFA to a Trustee?
By appointing an independent Trustee under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the NC is ensuring that the process for developing a repayment proposal, under the supervision of the court, would be fair, transparent and have the approval of the TTFA’s creditors. The appointment of a Trustee is a requirement of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
It is said that the Association has assets which include the Home of Football and acres of land valued at approximately $75 million, surely the Association can use these assets to settle its creditors!
An independent third-party valuation is still to be conducted to determine the value of the TTFA’s assets.
Is TTFA being dissolved?
No, the TTFA is not being dissolved; the organization will continue to operate normally under the supervision of the NC while the Trustee meets with creditors to validate their claims and develops a payment proposal to settle the TTFA’s outstanding debt. This process will allow the NC to build the foundation for the rehabilitation of the TTFA.
Have other options to this approach considered by the TTFA?
Several options were considered and reviewed with our consultants EY and this was determined to be the best and most viable; the TTFA’s assets are protected while a fair and transparent repayment plan for the TTFA’s creditors is developed with the oversight of an independent Trustee and the administration of football continues without interruption.
Can the TTFA enter into new contracts during this process?
Yes, the TTFA will continue to operate normally, under the supervision of the NC.
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Give that a FORWARD!
After all ... all sorts of bankruptcy at the TTFA have long been presumed and alleged.
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Awai supports TTFA Normalisation Committee's strategic approach.
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian).
Michael Awai, an official of the AC Port-of-Spain, says the move by the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) to appoint Maria Daniel, a Licensed Trustee, to manage the debt proposal process which will be guided by the rules of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Chapter 9:70, is a good one.
According to the TTFA release on Monday and an Ernst & Young report, dated April 9, 2021, which put the TTFA’s total outstanding liabilities and unasserted claims (contingent liabilities) at approximately TT$98.5 million.
The release outlined the process which will include meetings with and the submission of claims (and supporting documents) by all creditors; a review and verification of the claims; and the development of a proposal to deal with the valid outstanding liabilities.
Once the proposal has been developed and approved by the creditors, it will be sanctioned by the Courts and the NC, headed by chairman Robert Hadad, will proceed to implement the proposal following its terms.
During the development of the proposal and its implementation, the NC’s day-to-day management of the TTFA will be unaffected.
Commenting on Daniel’s appointment, Awai told Guardian Media Sports that Daniel will be coming in as the receiver officially so that she will go through with the creditors the contingent liabilities and determine the real balances owed by the TTFA and the ones that are in doubt and come to a decision by taking it to the Court and get a ruling from the Court to establish what is the true balance owed by the TTFA.
He added, “I think it is very strategic because they (NC) don’t seem to have a plan as yet or maybe they do have one and they are not sharing it on how they are going to repay TT$98.5 million."
Awai said the process of hiring a Trustee was always open to the NC and all involved would have known about it and as they were then trying to get the support of the membership.
He said: "Because you can understand that if the accounts were not passed they would not have gotten any money to continue paying people salaries, coaches and people in the administration and so on, and I think that was key to the accounts being passed.”
Questioned as to whether the total value of TTFA’s asset which includes the Home of Football (HoF) and acres of land valued at approximately $75 million could be used to settle with its creditors to which Hadad said an independent third-party valuation is to be conducted to determine that figure and at this stage, all options are on the table including the sale of the HoF.
Awai said the plans being put forward by the NC seems a sort of sell or lease and buy back, or sell and lease situation when it comes to the HoF.
He added, “I think they (NC) like to talk the worse things and then they give you what the real thing is. They are very strategic in their information and the time of their releases and I am not at all excited nor scared about what they are doing, but I think they are on the right path. They have taken their time and I think the move has kicked the can down the road for another six months in order where they can get more information via the court who will establish all the balances that need to be established."
He continued: “And I think in six months they will come to the end of the tenure of the NC and they may have an extension so they can regularise and identify and deal with the balances through the court by the TTFA and secondly by the time they should have in place a plan to deal with the repayment of the debt."
However, Awai was upbeat that the HoF would remain under the ownership of the local federation saying, “I don’t believe, however, that we will sell the HoF as I don’t think it is theirs to sell because it is not a private sector business. It’s an organisation and I don’t believe the government will allow them to sell it to be quite frank."
He said having been in charge of football for close to two years now the generating of funds by the NC to help the financially strained body is all down to timing more than anything else.
He explained: “They are trying to deal with the thing that will bury the TTFA, they are trying to establish the debt and when that is done the money that will come or the funding of US$1.5 million per annum from the FIFA they will be able to use that to help the national teams without having to be scared about anybody who may be taking the money in the bank when the money goes to the bank, particularly the people who have the executions over the judgment debt.
"After that is done the whole question of the HoF will allow the TTFA to breathe a little easier at least for six months to be able to finance the national teams going forward, and once they put a plan in place I believe only then that the businessmen will start to listen to the TTFA via Robert Hadad.
"It’s purely a matter of timing and so long as the timing is alright and it is synchronized properly, I believe it’s a whole national effort to get the football going forward."
However, Awai warned that if the NC was to shut down the TTFA and start a new one in 2022 he doesn’t think anyone will deal with them.
He said: “So in the next six months, I think they can bring in a marketing person to deal with not so much so of trying to pay the debt but to see how they can promote and market the HoF and there is a space just west of the stadium where they have concerts and parties and I think that is where they might be looking to see as part of the arrangement on how they can develop a sort of funding for football in general.”
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EGM still requested: On balance, support for normalisation committee’s insolvency solution but...
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
A month after Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) delegates met, the Veterans Football Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) has urgently requested an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) be held.
This comes amid the backdrop of Monday’s announcement by the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee (NC) of the TTFA.
The NC announced via media release that it had notified the Supervisor of Insolvency of its intent to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago which will enable a structured approach to the restructuring of the TTFA and the preparation of acceptable payment proposal to address the TTFA’s debt.
Now, VFFOTT president Selby Browne has made the call for a second EGM, within a month, via letter sent to acting TTFA general secretary Amiel Mohammed.
“I wish to bring to your attention the urgent need to have an EGM of the TTFA convened soonest, ideally before November 30, 2021. One month has now passed since the last TTFA EGM held on October 10, 2021 and there are several important matters of business to be urgently addressed by the TTFA membership.”
Browne has cited several matters to be discussed and with the Robert Hadad-led NC now showing its intended direction, Browne feels an EGM is even more necessary. He said regardless of whether insolvency was a good step or not, it should have been presented to the TTFA membership before any decision was made.
Further, Browne believes that the main issues with the Hadad-chaired NC, is a basic disregard, as well as a perceived disrespect and discourtesy towards the general TTFA membership.
“Part of your mandate tells you (to) bring your recommendations to the membership for their approval,” Browne contends. “Is it not the better thing to say ‘fellas we are thinking about doing this’. It is basic management. It is basic courtesy. Not doing your own thing and telling the boys later. Keep in touch with your membership, who will all walk along with you and have their input (and) who will facilitate guidance so we are all swimming in one direction,” Browne suggested.
Apart from Browne, there were also varying views from other TTFA stakeholders to the latest decision of the NC. Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer is of the view that the move toward insolvency was sensible given the TTFA’s $98.9 million debt. However, Downer questioned why the normalisation committee has only decided on decisive action four months before the end of its 24-month mandate. He also hoped that the insolvency process is completed before the term of the current NC ends, in March 2022.
“FIFA had given a mandate to the normalisation committee to deal with the debt. Therefore, the normalisation committee can take any measures to deal with the debt. This measure, to my understanding, is really to prevent the creditors from coming down on the Association and taking away whatever they have in any bank account or even levying on their property, and this is a threat that is possible at the moment,” Downer noted.
Downer said once an application for insolvency is made, creditors are automatically halted from going after the TTFA’s assets. “It means the TTFA can continue receiving its grant from FIFA to carry on its day-to-day business. You don’t want creditors coming down on the (FIFA) grant,” stated Downer. “This move is a sensible move and it does not need any general meeting approval because it is not a dissolution of the Association (TTFA),” he further explained.
Meanwhile, Jefferson George, president of the Unified Football Coaches of Trinidad and Tobago (UFCTT), felt the NC’s position was very much worth discussing and was one of the agenda items at last night’s executive meeting of the coaches’ body.
And the outspoken Michael Awai, of the AC Port of Spain professional club, thinks Hadad’s proposal has both its merits and its demerits.
“They still haven’t come up with a plan for the Home of Football as yet. But that of itself (insolvency) is a very good decision. It is a good, legal decision and it gives them six months to reveal all the existing creditors,” Awai assessed.
“Now the people who have matters in court (against the TTFA); those are valid, but there are some invalid ones. So, that’s why I think they want the six-month period under the Insolvency Act to make sure they verify all the payable outstanding,” Awai opined. “But they still have the problem of finding a use of the Home of Football going forward.”
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Now...insolvency is supposed to be a precautionary measure to ensure everyone is paid and to avoid bankruptcy. So I might be kinda ok with that.
How that debt is to be repaid is the question. Does the TTFA have any other revenue generating ideas other than selling an asset (and while I wasnt really convinced by the manner of it being done I at least appreciated the intent.
How much of the debt is due to termination fees due to coaches being hired and fired without a plan?
You selling basically the only asset the organization has....and....planning to pay to use it in future?
If you tell me mortgage it and pay off creditors then maybe. But again.....what revenue generators does the TTFA have to service that debt and also meet future needs?
The only thing that normal about this normalization committee is that they chaotic...shortsighted....poor in communication....and not making sense.
Which I guess....is normal for us. :banginghead:
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Our football administrators are their own worst enemy
T&T Guardian
Last week, the Normalisation Committee (NC) of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) announced that it had “notified the Supervisor of Insolvency of its intent to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago that would enable a structured approach to the restructuring of the TTFA and the preparation of a fair, transparent, and acceptable payment proposal to address the TTFA’s debt.”
The process, according to the NC, would allow the TTFA to manage its operations and provide a stay from all legal proceedings and creditor actions for a period of up to six months, thereby securing the TTFA’s assets while the management and NC work under the oversight of the independent Trustee to develop and present a proposal to address the TTFA’s debt to all creditors.
In other words, the move would ensure the TTFA’s current assets are protected from legal action by individual creditors and that everybody owed by the TTFA would be treated equitably.
Corporate Trinidad and Tobago, which has all but turned its back on local football, would have seen this as a positive development – a structured approach adopted by the administration of football to deal with its debt in a manner that would not cost taxpayers a cent.
The response among football administrators (or stakeholders, as some prefer to be called) was, however, mixed, and in some instances downright hostile.
In an immediate response, Selby Browne, who heads the veteran footballers’ association, said he felt disrespected, and that there should have been prior consultation. He wanted to call a special general meeting to discuss the matter. Why? To discuss what, Mr Browne?
Osmond Downer, Head of the Referees’ Association, and media-ordained football constitution expert pointed out (to Browne and, maybe to the reporter who quoted him) that the NC had the authority, under the TTFA constitution, to do what it did. And by the way Mr Ian Prescott (Express reporter), the TTFA has neither been placed in bankruptcy nor made insolvent, a fact made abundantly clear in the TTFA’s news release. But why let the truth get in the way of a good headline?
Other football stakeholders – let’s call them what they are, Administrators with tabanca – when asked about the move wantonly blamed the NC for the state of Trinidad and Tobago football and challenged its ability to handle TTFA business. Hold on. Are we missing something? Aren’t these the same individuals who have been around for the past umpteen years, overseeing various aspects of local football, while the TTFA was accumulating $100 million in debt.
These same individuals are now demanding that the NC get committees working, restart the pro league, appoint national coaches and technical teams, get our national footballers back into training, and organize international warm-up matches. How? And with what money? It seems idiotic to say it, but… haven’t they noticed that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, that the TTFA is $100 million in debt, and the NC is struggling to keep things afloat on a stipend from FIFA. It’s by no means business as usual.
Moreover, it is you, football gurus, Messrs Wallace, Look Loy, Downer, Browne, John Willams, et al, and your fellow associates (and predecessors), who brought Trinidad and Tobago football to where it is today.
The NC was appointed to save you from yourselves. Its members were nowhere around when the rot that characterized the administration of local football was taking place. Robert Hadad was running a successful business; Nigel Romano, a successful international career in banking; Nicholas Gomez a successful accounting and business consultancy; Judy Daniel a reputable and successful law practice. See the common thread? These people have been put in charge of local football to help... because you couldn’t, and still can’t run it successfully. They aren’t the problem, you are.
The members of the NC all have proven track records of success. Hear this: They are going to find a solution to repay the creditors that you (the former leaders of the TTFA) owe money; they are going to put in place modern systems governance and control to ensure that the administration of football is on a sound and sustainable footing.
These four individuals are all respected in the fields of endeavour, Corporate Trinidad and Tobago trust them. When they (the members of the NC) hand the TTFA back to you, you can be confident that the business community will be far more willing to consider investing in football and it was 20 months ago.
And by the way, none of them is doing it for the stipend FIFA pays them. Rather than attack them, I suggest you try to help them help you. If you can’t, hush, and let them fix the mess you made.
Derek Derron
Fete match guru
St James
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Trinidad and Tobago football can be considered in a state of rebuilding. Many individuals would love to see the return of T&T football to its best, but there are also concerns that need to be addressed.
One such person is long standing servant of the TTFA Board, Richard Quan-Chan, who says while he is open to new ideas in an effort for improvement of the game, he is not in total agreement with the suggestions of the Normalization Committee especially in the category of finance.
Additionally, there are suggestions by the Normalization Committee to liquidate the assets of the TTFA to neutralise some of these debts incurred, including the home of football in Couva. Quan Chan says this would be a disaster.
https://www.youtube.com/v/fBWvsMLQaJE
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Our football administrators are their own worst enemy
T&T Guardian
Last week, the Normalisation Committee (NC) of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) announced that it had “notified the Supervisor of Insolvency of its intent to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago that would enable a structured approach to the restructuring of the TTFA and the preparation of a fair, transparent, and acceptable payment proposal to address the TTFA’s debt.”
The process, according to the NC, would allow the TTFA to manage its operations and provide a stay from all legal proceedings and creditor actions for a period of up to six months, thereby securing the TTFA’s assets while the management and NC work under the oversight of the independent Trustee to develop and present a proposal to address the TTFA’s debt to all creditors.
In other words, the move would ensure the TTFA’s current assets are protected from legal action by individual creditors and that everybody owed by the TTFA would be treated equitably.
Corporate Trinidad and Tobago, which has all but turned its back on local football, would have seen this as a positive development – a structured approach adopted by the administration of football to deal with its debt in a manner that would not cost taxpayers a cent.
The response among football administrators (or stakeholders, as some prefer to be called) was, however, mixed, and in some instances downright hostile.
In an immediate response, Selby Browne, who heads the veteran footballers’ association, said he felt disrespected, and that there should have been prior consultation. He wanted to call a special general meeting to discuss the matter. Why? To discuss what, Mr Browne?
Osmond Downer, Head of the Referees’ Association, and media-ordained football constitution expert pointed out (to Browne and, maybe to the reporter who quoted him) that the NC had the authority, under the TTFA constitution, to do what it did. And by the way Mr Ian Prescott (Express reporter), the TTFA has neither been placed in bankruptcy nor made insolvent, a fact made abundantly clear in the TTFA’s news release. But why let the truth get in the way of a good headline?
Other football stakeholders – let’s call them what they are, Administrators with tabanca – when asked about the move wantonly blamed the NC for the state of Trinidad and Tobago football and challenged its ability to handle TTFA business. Hold on. Are we missing something? Aren’t these the same individuals who have been around for the past umpteen years, overseeing various aspects of local football, while the TTFA was accumulating $100 million in debt.
These same individuals are now demanding that the NC get committees working, restart the pro league, appoint national coaches and technical teams, get our national footballers back into training, and organize international warm-up matches. How? And with what money? It seems idiotic to say it, but… haven’t they noticed that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, that the TTFA is $100 million in debt, and the NC is struggling to keep things afloat on a stipend from FIFA. It’s by no means business as usual.
Moreover, it is you, football gurus, Messrs Wallace, Look Loy, Downer, Browne, John Willams, et al, and your fellow associates (and predecessors), who brought Trinidad and Tobago football to where it is today.
The NC was appointed to save you from yourselves. Its members were nowhere around when the rot that characterized the administration of local football was taking place. Robert Hadad was running a successful business; Nigel Romano, a successful international career in banking; Nicholas Gomez a successful accounting and business consultancy; Judy Daniel a reputable and successful law practice. See the common thread? These people have been put in charge of local football to help... because you couldn’t, and still can’t run it successfully. They aren’t the problem, you are.
The members of the NC all have proven track records of success. Hear this: They are going to find a solution to repay the creditors that you (the former leaders of the TTFA) owe money; they are going to put in place modern systems governance and control to ensure that the administration of football is on a sound and sustainable footing.
These four individuals are all respected in the fields of endeavour, Corporate Trinidad and Tobago trust them. When they (the members of the NC) hand the TTFA back to you, you can be confident that the business community will be far more willing to consider investing in football and it was 20 months ago.
And by the way, none of them is doing it for the stipend FIFA pays them. Rather than attack them, I suggest you try to help them help you. If you can’t, hush, and let them fix the mess you made.
Derek Derron
Fete match guru
St James
Says the fete match guru
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Trinidad and Tobago football can be considered in a state of rebuilding. Many individuals would love to see the return of T&T football to its best, but there are also concerns that need to be addressed.
One such person is long standing servant of the TTFA Board, Richard Quan-Chan, who says while he is open to new ideas in an effort for improvement of the game, he is not in total agreement with the suggestions of the Normalization Committee especially in the category of finance.
Additionally, there are suggestions by the Normalization Committee to liquidate the assets of the TTFA to neutralise some of these debts incurred, including the home of football in Couva. Quan Chan says this would be a disaster.
https://www.youtube.com/v/fBWvsMLQaJE
Dahis where the substance ended? What an abrupt end of a clip that seemed to find Richard Quan Chan mid-way through an incomplete thought. Maybe the seconds of dead air killed the prospect of the viewers getting the full piece. ::)
Other than that, it seems he was wading into a precarious defense of costs and benefits. Surely he isn't suggesting that hotel expense savings offer the panacea for working the TTFA's way out of the quicksand.
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Moreover, it is you, football gurus, Messrs Wallace, Look Loy, Downer, Browne, John Willams, et al, and your fellow associates (and predecessors), who brought Trinidad and Tobago football to where it is today.
I will give Tim Kee a pass to an extent. He was the one who inherited Jack Warner's commesse. Unfortunately he was not able do anything substantial due to his one term in office, plus his health. May he Rest In Peace.
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High-Risk: Ferguson concerned NC’s strategy could destroy TTFA
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
Former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) presidential candidate Richard Ferguson believes that the TTFA normalisation committee (NC) should have considered an alternative to seeking insolvency protection as a means of shielding it from creditors.
“On the eighth of November the normalisation committee would have initiated bankruptcy/slash insolvency proceedings, as per the act,” Ferguson declared. “First of all, bankruptcy is the last resort. It is the worst thing that could happen to a business, an organisation, or a person.”
Further, Ferguson, a chartered accountant with a Master’s degree in business administration, is of the belief that the NC, which is chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad, is taking a high-risk step.
On November 8, the TTFA notified the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency of “its intent to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago.”
The NC has appointed Maria Daniel, a licensed trustee, to manage the debt proposal process, which will be guided by the rules of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Chapter 9:70. The process will include meetings with the submission of claims; a review and verification of the claims; and development of a proposal to deal with the valid outstanding liabilities.
“By making this proposal and initiating the insolvency procedure, they are engaging in high-risk behaviour. Very, very high-risk,” emphasised Ferguson, who stated that the possibility of a receiver being appointed and the TTFA liquidated, looms a real threat.
He is also of the view that the TTFA’s cash flow projection will show that the financially-challenged football association can pay it creditors.
Ferguson, commenting on the latest edition of the Ascension Football show in which he was interviewed by host Kieron Edwards--who serves as both Ascension Invitational director and president of the Eastern Football Association (EFA)—said: “Over the last four years, the TTFA would have (had) revenue of $125 million.
“It is a significant amount when compared to the debt that is being claimed,” adding, “the debt being claimed (is) around $98 million, but I personally don’t believe it (to be) $98 million...it’s less than that.”
Ferguson offered no details of the conditions FIFA might have imposed on the TTFA for use of its funding. “I could be wrong. I not inside...I don’t have the facts,” admitted Ferguson, who believes the TTFA debt was likely closer to $50 million.
Given the TTFA’s revenue to debt ratio, he believes the NC could have approached the TTFA’s bankers for a long-term loan to pay off its debts.
Ferguson also saw the NC as operating as a law onto itself, totally disregarding the TTFA membership, leading to speculation since the stakeholders are being left out of the decision-making process. “The membership of TTFA has very little knowledge of what is going on,” Ferguson contended.
“One of the things that is characteristic of the normalisation committee, is that ever since they have been in power, they have not garnished or provided any information to the members,” adding, “They can pay off the debt in five years. Over four years, you had revenue of $125 million.”
Ferguson also argued that TTFA needed to drastically cut its expenditure, like not hiring expensive coaches. The businessman and professional football club owner asserted that while bankruptcy might offer the TTFA some protection, there were disadvantages, including how it could affect the organisations’ creditworthiness.
“It creates a high level of untrustworthiness,” opined Ferguson. “It’s a terrible situation. The normalisation committee was appointed to manage the affairs of the TTFA to avoid bankruptcy.”
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NC files for protection under Bankruptcy Act; TTFA will consider selling Home of Football.
Wired868.com.
“[…] This process, as it was designed, will allow the TTFA to manage its operations and provide a stay from all legal proceedings and creditor actions for a period of up to six months.
“[…] At this stage, all options are on the table; the sale of the Home of Football is definitely an option…”
The following is a press statement from the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee, which is headed by businessman Robert Hadad and runs the operations of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) at present:
The Fifa-appointed normalisation committee (NC) of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has moved one step closer to developing an implementable plan to address the TTFA’s long-term debt.
An Ernst & Young report, dated 9 April 2021, put the TTFA’s total outstanding liabilities and unasserted claims (contingent liabilities) at approximately TT$98.5 mil.
The NC today (Monday 8 November 2021) notified the supervisor of insolvency of its intent to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago, which will enable a structured approach to the restructuring of the TTFA and the preparation of a fair, transparent and acceptable payment proposal to address the TTFA’s debt.
This process, as it was designed, will allow the TTFA to manage its operations and provide a stay from all legal proceedings and creditor actions for a period of up to six months, thereby securing the TTFA’s assets while the management and NC work, under the oversight of the independent Trustee, to develop and present a proposal to address the TTFA’s debt to all creditors.
The NC has appointed Maria Daniel, a licensed trustee, to manage the debt proposal process, which will be guided by the rules of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Chapter 9:70. The process will include meetings with and the submission of claims (and supporting documents) by all creditors; a review and verification of the claims; and the development of a proposal to deal with the valid outstanding liabilities.
Once the proposal has been developed and approved by the creditors, it will be sanctioned by the courts and the NC will proceed to implement the proposal in accordance with its terms. During the development of the proposal and its implementation, the NC’s day-to-day management of the TTFA will be unaffected.
Commenting on the decision to seek protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, NC chairman Robert Hadad said: ‘The TTFA is currently hamstrung with debt, and we can’t allow past mismanagement and poor governance to cripple the future of football or indeed its daily operations.
‘This option, under the supervision of the supervisor of insolvency, the trustee and the courts, ensures transparency, equity and independence in the process while, at the same time, ensuring that our current subventions are used for the day-to-day running of the TTFA and its present and future needs.
‘The intent is to rehabilitate as opposed to dissolve the TTFA with a view to preserving continuity and the development of football in Trinidad and Tobago for future generations.’
Background:
The mandate given to the NC included:
-Run the TTFA’s daily affairs
-Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA
-Review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; and
-Organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
FIFA appointed Mr Robert Hadad (chairperson), Ms Judy Daniel (deputy chairperson), Mr Nigel L Romano (member) and Mr Trevor Nicholas Gomez (member) to serve as members of the normalisation committee (NC). One additional committee member can be appointed.
The NC’s tenure, which includes acting as an electoral committee ‘as none of these members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances’, expires upon the execution of their mandate ‘but no later than 24 months after its members have been official appointed by FIFA’
Q&A
TTFA Media: Has the normalisation committee filed for bankruptcy? Is the TTFA now bankrupt?
Hadad: No. The normalisation committee has neither filed for bankruptcy nor has the TTFA been put into bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago provides an avenue for individuals or organisations in financial difficulty to seek the protection of the courts from litigation while they develop a payment proposal and negotiate with creditors to settle outstanding debt through a court supervised process that is fair, transparent, and equitable.
What happens to the individuals or organisations that have made successful claims against the TTFA in court?
A stay of all such proceedings was automatically triggered by the filing of the Notice of Intent on 8 November 2021. This, in effect, will ensure that all creditors are treated equitably in the settlement of the TTFA’s debt.
Given the $98 million debt, how does the NC/ TTFA plan to continue funding the running of football?
Filing the Notice of Intent to develop a payment proposal for creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act gives the TTFA the protection of the courts from claims on its current and future income—the TTFA’s existing assets will be used to deal with the existing debt. The day-to-day operations of the TTFA and future football activity will be funded with subventions from Fifa in the first instance.
What is the total value of the TTFA’s assets?
An independent third-party valuation is to be conducted to determine that figure.
Will the Home of Football be sold?
At this stage, all options are on the table; the sale of the Home of Football is definitely an option.
When will creditors be paid?
Acting under the supervision of the court, and guided by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, 2007, the TTFA has to develop a repayment proposal under the oversight of the Independent Trustee and get the approval of the creditors in a period of up to six months.
The process will include meetings with and the submission of claims (and supporting documents) by all creditors; a review and verification of the claims; and the development of an approved repayment proposal to deal with all valid outstanding liabilities. Following this, a timeline will be agreed for payment to creditors.
Will creditors be paid in full?
The repayment proposal will be determined by the funding available to pay creditors, and will be made after all claims have been reviewed and verified by the independent trustee and those verified claims weighed against the TTFA’s ability to pay.
Is the NC taking this action so that it can extend its term beyond March 2022?
The tenure of the NC is wholly in the hands of FIFA. The decision to file a Notice of Intent to develop a repayment proposal for the TTFA’s creditors was taken because it is a court supervised process that ensures transparency, equity and independence while, at the same time, ensuring that the TTFA’s current subventions are used for the day-to-day running of the TTFA and its present and future needs.
How has the Association accumulated $98.5 million in debt and unasserted claims? Over how many years has this debt been accumulating? Who was responsible for this mismanagement over these years?
Decades of poor governance and a lack of proper internal controls characterised the operations of successive TTFA administrations and is the root cause for poor financial health and overall operational performance of the TTFA.
Has the Association accumulated additional debt since the NC was appointed?
No. During the past 12 months the NC has focused on improving the systems of governance and controls and has implemented several operational improvements, including the preparation of monthly management accounts; the introduction of improved compliance processes and procedures; enhanced systems and accounting software; and reviews by EY, Fifa and Concacaf. The NC is in the process of implementing EY’s recommendations for new policies and procedures, use of technology and improved governance.
I know you indicated that the value of the accumulated debt and unasserted claims of the Association as at April 2021 is $98.5 million but what is the value of the Association’s assets?
An independent third-party valuation is to be conducted to determine that figure.
Why did the Association not seek funding relief from Fifa and GORTT to repay the debts of the Association?
Neither Fifa nor the GORTT has any legal obligation to repay debt accumulated by the TTFA as a result of mismanagement and poor governance.
The matter of contingent liabilities as at April 2021, what is the value of these liabilities, to whom are they due, and for what? Are these liabilities likely to crystallise and will they form part of the liabilities that the Association will have to settle?
The licensed trustee will meet with all creditors to ascertain the validity of each claim and make a final determination.
Why did the Association not simply take a loan from a bank or other lending institution equivalent to the liability and pay off its creditors?
With its accumulated debt and track record of poor management and governance, the TTFA would not qualify for a loan of the size necessary to settle its debt.
The NC has the responsibility, under their mandate, to develop a debt repayment plan. Why are they passing off their responsibilities assigned by Fifa to a Trustee?
By appointing an independent trustee under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the NC is ensuring that the process for developing a repayment proposal, under the supervision of the court, would be fair, transparent and have the approval of the TTFA’s creditors. The appointment of a trustee is a requirement of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
It is said that the Association has assets which include the Home of Football and acres of land valued at approximately $75 million. Surely the Association can use these assets to settle its creditors!
An independent third-party valuation is still to be conducted to determine the value of the TTFA’s assets.
Is TTFA being dissolved?
No, the TTFA is not being dissolved; the organisation will continue to operate normally under the supervision of the NC while the trustee meets with creditors to validate their claims and develops a payment proposal to settle the TTFA’s outstanding debt. This process will allow the NC to build the foundation for the rehabilitation of the TTFA.
Have other options to this approach been considered by the TTFA?
Several options were considered and reviewed with our consultants EY and this was determined to be the best and most viable; the TTFA’s assets are protected while a fair and transparent repayment plan for the TTFA’s creditors is developed with the oversight of an independent trustee and the administration of football continues without interruption.
Can the TTFA enter into new contracts during this process?
Yes, the TTFA will continue to operate normally, under the supervision of the NC.
RELATED NEWS
‘A smart move’, ‘laughable’, ‘farming out their duties’; TTFA members and creditors respond to NC.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Before lunch yesterday, Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad faced off against former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical director Kendall Walkes in a virtual hearing of the local high court.
Walkes was represented legally by Keston McQuilkin and Melissa Keisha Roberts-John. Attorney Stephen Salandy is believed to have appeared for the TTFA, which is being run by the normalisation committee at present.
In September 2019, Justice Joan Charles ordered the TTFA to pay TT$5.4 mil to Walkes for breach of contract and unpaid wages. Thus far, Walkes has collected roughly TT$300,000 from the local football body back—and, even then, he needed a garnishee order on 16 March 2020 to get it.
Fifa’s intervention in the twin island republic, on 17 March 2020, was supposed to improve the fate of creditors like Walkes. A key component of its normalisation committee’s mandate is: ‘to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA’.
Yet, the Hadad-led body not only failed to engage in active dialogue with Walkes—and previous employees like Stephen Hart, Anton Corneal, Russell Latapy and Dennis Lawrence—but offers little transparency on the millions that it receives from Fifa, on behalf of the TTFA.
Yesterday’s hearing should have been one step towards clearing up the latter.
“We filed an application in July and, as a result of that application, the hearing was set for [yesterday],” Roberts-John told Wired868. “The application was for the TTFA to disclose its financial books and accounts with respect to its income and outcome and where they are keeping their money, so we can know specifically what they have in terms of assets. It was a request for an examination of their accounts essentially.
“Because the TTFA did not yet have a lawyer on record, I gave Hadad a reminder last Friday with respect to the July application and the hearing.”
On the very next working day, Monday 8 November, the TTFA notified the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency of ‘its intent to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Trinidad and Tobago’.
“The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) of Trinidad and Tobago provides an avenue for individuals or organisations in financial difficulty to seek the protection of the courts from litigation,” Hadad told the TTFA Media, in a press release yesterday, “while they develop a payment proposal and negotiate with creditors to settle outstanding debt through a court supervised process that is fair, transparent, and equitable.”
What did Roberts-John think when she was informed of Hadad’s legal manoeuvre through the press—so soon after her phone call, without warning, and just hours before their own court date?
Walkes’ attorney gave a mirthless laugh. Although their hearing will resume on December, she knows they can be little meaningful progress while the BIA is in effect.
“It is an ongoing matter,” she said, “and I don’t want to jeopardise my client’s case by telling you my thoughts on that [TTFA move]!”
British football agent Mike Berry, who represents Lawrence, was more blunt.
“It looks like another expensive delaying tactic by the normalisation committee, on top of the lack of action over the last 18 months so far,” said Berry. “No doubt the appointed trustee and Hadad and company will carry on being paid their costly fees while the creditors continue to wait!”
And how do TTFA stakeholders feel?
Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer, one of the authors of the TTFA Constitution, said he received several phone calls on Monday from members who wanted to know if the normalisation committee could turn to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act without consulting them.
In Downer’s opinion, Hadad is on solid ground from a constitutional standpoint.
Article 82 of the TTFA Constitution states: ‘Any decision relating to the dissolution of TTFA requires a majority of three quarters of all of the Members, which must be obtained at a general meeting specially convened for the purpose.’
“They have not declared bankruptcy, so this doesn’t fall under that,” said Downer. “The main mandate of the normalisation committee was to try to solve the big debt. So they are not bound to call a general meeting to inform members about this because it falls within the mandate given by Fifa.
“[…] If the feeling is that they will be able to deal with the debt easier without having the creditors on the back [through the Act] and this move can allow them to do that ‘in peace’, then it is a smart move.
“Otherwise the creditors could have moved in on the TTFA at any time… So there is nothing wrong with it.”
A qualified accountant with knowledge of the local football scene, who spoke to Wired868 on condition of anonymity, was less impressed.
The normalisation committee has stopped using the TTFA’s established bank accounts, without informing the general meeting or even its own employees about where it banks.
Article 8(d) of the Fifa Forward Development Programme Regulations (under which member associations receive between US$1 mil (TT$6.8 mil) and $2.5 mil (TT$17 mil) annually from the global governing body) states that its subvention must go to a ‘bank account in [the name of the football association] with a bank in the country in which it has its registered headquarters’.
So where is Fifa’s money going?
The accountant suggested it was immoral and possibly illegal to ‘hide’ income from creditors.
“What would you call it,” he asked, “if your creditor has a court order against you […] and you change where the funds are going so they can’t access it?
“Basically, you’re disrespecting our courts and breaking your own statutes.”
Roberts-John confirmed that it was her client’s concern that TTFA was continuing business as usual in apparent disregard to its debt, which forced them to turn to the courts in an effort to compel Hadad to be transparent.
“I cannot state for a fact what money they have got but I am under the belief that they are getting money from Fifa, like most associations have,” she said. “We were told a payment plan is being put into place but nothing was forthcoming. Hence why my client has to take these proceedings.”
Since Hadad and company are Fifa employees, is the global body somehow involved in the act of depriving the TTFA’s former employees of money due to them under a court order?
“I reserve my comment on that,” said Roberts-John. “Again it is an ongoing matter and I don’t want to prejudice my client’s case in any shape or form.”
Ironically, Article 22 of Fifa’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players stipulates that the world governing body will only get involved in disputes when it has an ‘international dimension’.
The effect of this ruling is that foreign employees can go directly to Fifa for redress, with the global body generally compensating them directly from Fifa Forward money due to the Association.
This option was taken by former coaches like Even Pellerud, Wim Rijsbergen, Carolina Morace, and even Stuart Charles-Fevrier—a St Lucian who resides in Trinidad.
Meanwhile not only are local coaches denied the opportunity to be compensated through Fifa, but the global body’s own employees are, allegedly, keeping funds due to creditors outside of their grasp.
The accountant noted that Hadad’s pivot towards the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act was not novel. Fifa suggested using that legal avenue to late former president Raymond Tim Kee and William Wallace—whose tenure was cut short by normalisation.
Tim Kee and Wallace both felt ‘hitting the reset button’ on the TTFA’s debts was unfair to creditors, who were often ‘football people’ themselves.
“If your big plan to reduce the TTFA’s debt is to put the thing in receivership and pay cents on the dollar,” the accountant noted, “then how is that significantly different from anything that happened before?
“And you’re talking nonsense about ‘we are not bankrupt, we are insolvent’. Technically that’s true but it is laughable because the effect is the same; you are telling creditors you cannot pay them and trying to play smart with stupidness.
“[…] I can understand why they would take this step. Does it make sense? Yes it does and there is a case to be made for it—unless you are a creditor, of course. But to act as if this is something new that they came up with is not true.”
Hadad’s suggestion that the normalisation committee has not increased the TTFA’s debt raised eyebrows, particularly as the local body is not believed to have finished paying off Terry Fenwick’s coaching staff.
And if, as Hadad claimed, the sale of the TTFA Home of Football is ‘definitely an option’ then that would be a surprise to anyone with knowledge of Fifa regulations. Wallace was allegedly told the opposite by Fifa officials, during his short tenure.
“I don’t see how [the sale of the Home of Football in part or whole] is even remotely possible,” said ex-TTFA Board member Keith Look Loy, who is a former Fifa development officer and Concacaf technical study group member, “because Fifa regulations prohibit the sale of infrastructure which it has financed, while the land on which it is built is Government-owned and leased to the Association.
“Of course, all three parties—TTFA, FIFA and the Government—formed an unholy alliance to remove the United TTFA administration, so perhaps laws will be set aside to continue the tragicomedy we have been watching since March 2020.”
In Look Loy’s opinion, Hadad and fellow committee members, Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez, have long proven themselves to be unsuited to the running of the local game.
“I am not at all surprised by this turn of events,” said Look Loy. “Never mind the bravado of the related statement, the normalisation committee has long shown that it has no ideas and that it cannot address TTFA’s debt other than by mendicancy.
“[…] Indeed, the NC has amply demonstrated that it cannot handle TTFA business, as a whole. Members are not included in decision making, there is no transparency in TTFA operations, and football has ground to a halt—not only because of the pandemic but also because of NC disinterest and incapacity.
“Those who were vociferous against [the United TTFA] have long fallen silent in the face of NC failure. Pity the national game.”
Berry concurred for the most part. He said he was stunned that, after 19 months, Hadad, Daniel and Romano were now set to pay a third party to validate debts and evaluate assets.
At US$6,500 (TT$44,000) a month, Hadad is believed to have earned US$123,500 (TT$838,000) since he took up his current Fifa post while Daniel and Romano stood to pocket US$76,000 each (TT$516,000) at US$4,000 (TT$27,000) per month.
Neither Fifa nor the normalisation committee members confirmed their pay packet but the figures suggested are standard for appointees across the globe. If the same figure was paid here, it would mean the trio collectively received US$275,500 (TT$1.87 mil) for their work since March 2020.
The question is: what have they done for local football?
“Basically Hadad is just delegating his own responsibilities to third parties—Ernest and Young, Grant Thornton Orbit Solutions, and now an independent trustee [Maria Daniel],” said Berry. “Are the normalisation committee, who are two accountants, one banker and a lawyer, not capable of validating creditors themselves?!
“He has been saying for 18 months that he is producing a payment plan and looking to evaluate the assets; and now he says he is farming both tasks out to a costly third party! What’s he getting paid for?!”
Although Downer was fine with Hadad’s decision to invoke the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, he told Wired868 that he does have a problem with the length of time taken to make the decision.
“The quantum of the debt and the number of creditors was known by the normalisation committee since at least January,” said Downer. “Why didn’t they make this move earlier so as to fall within the time limit given by Fifa, which stipulates that their term should end in March 2022? Why wait until now, which is four months from March?”
Outgoing Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis believes the answer is obvious.
“It’s very clear to me that the Bureau of the Fifa Council will extend the mandate of the normalisation committee of the TTFA, which is due to expire March 2022,” said Lewis, who expects Hadad’s team to get a six-month extension in the first instance to continue to ‘oversee’ the ‘debt repayment plan’.
There is, as he noted, precedence for such an extension.
Egypt was normalised on 20 August 2019, while Pakistan met the same fate on 13 September 2019.
Egypt’s normalisation committee was due to be replaced on 31 July 2020, yet the Bureau of the Fifa Council—headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino—extended its term on three occasions. Pakistan’s normalisation process was extended on four occasions on 15 June 2020, 31 December 2020, 30 June 2021, and then on 30 September 2021.
Article 8.2 of the Fifa Statutes, which deals with normalisation, states: ‘executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council, in consultation with the relevant confederation, and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.’
Much has been said about the vagueness of the term ‘exceptional circumstances’, which allows Fifa to step in and take over the running of any member association. But ‘a specific period of time’ appears to be equally fluid.
Incidentally, Pakistan tired of its normalisation committee and former football president Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah ‘reclaimed control’ of the body in March 2021.
“We went to meet [normalisation committee chairman Haroon Malik] and handed him the letter that we have got a mandate from the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Congress and executive committee to reassume the PFF charge,” said Shah, in a report in the Pakistan press.
“I told him that we had given the normalisation committee the charge in good faith in September 2019, with the hope that it would hold the PFF elections in a fair and transparent way within the Fifa mandate.
“But it did not do anything in the past 18 months.”
Fifa promptly suspended the PFF from all international football, even as it continues to pay its normalisation committee members in the country. However, Pakistani journalist Umaid Wasim told Wired868 that Pakistan’s national league is ongoing at present while Shah is making efforts to reclaim the PFF’s headquarters.
Ironically, despite being ostracised by Fifa, there is more football in Pakistan than Trinidad and Tobago at present.
“Football in Trinidad and Tobago now is at a total standstill and if we continue beyond March, irreparable damage will be done to our football,” said Downer. “It will be a good day in March when the normalisation committee has completed its job and elections have taken place, so we can have all the standing committees functioning and football can get going again.
“Covid is certainly no excuse. You could have your standing committees like your technical committee, your referees committee, your medical committees, etc, making plans for the restart of football—so when the normalisation committee finishes its functions, you don’t have to start from scratch.
“[…] Okay, so the debt might have been cleared by the time they leave or there may be plans to do so, but what about the football?!”
If Hadad has not charmed football stakeholders, he is not faring much better with creditors.
Roberts-John noted the TTFA’s statement that the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act would allow the local football body ‘a stay from all legal proceedings and creditor actions for a period of up to six months’. In reality, the BIA offers only a 30-day stay but the debtor can apply for this to be extended up to a maximum of five times.
Is Hadad suggesting that the TTFA already intends to ‘drag on’ the process for as long as possible? Would that be interpreted as a signal of good faith by long-suffering creditors?
“The normalisation committee has always been very quiet and silent—that is what gets to most creditors,” said Roberts-John. “You don’t know where they are at and what they are thinking. The silence is deafening and it aggravates the matter.
“If there was frequent and open communication, we would all be more at ease.”
Downer echoed the complaint.
“With this normalisation committee, the members are almost powerless,” said Downer. “From the very start, the members were put aside and ignored in Trinidad and Tobago—that is a fact. As I told you before, there is no comparison to Guyana who had a very successful normalisation experience.
“In Guyana, the first thing [the normalisation committee] did was call a general meeting and establish standing committees, like the referees and technical committees, which started working one time. We have nothing of the sort.
“Sure Covid is preventing people from going on the field but there is no planning going on at all. Our national youth teams [who are exempted from Covid-19 restrictions] are not training either.
“I suppose people have to hold their breath and just wait for the normalisation committee to leave. But we will be in a very poor state at every level of our football by the time they do.”
The anonymous accountant suggested that the TTFA members, who voted to accept Fifa’s normalisation committee, had questions to ask themselves:
‘What has been better since normalisation? What has gotten worse? What is the same? Is there more transparency or accountability?’
Editor’s Note: Since Gianni Infantino was elected Fifa president in February 2016, Fifa has ‘normalised’ over a dozen countries including: Guinea, Guatemala, Greece, Argentina, Thailand, Mali, Benin, Madagascar[2], the Dominican Republic[3], Egypt[4], Comoros[5], Iraq[6], Pakistan[7], Venezuela[8], Namibia[9] and Trinidad and Tobago.
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Normalisation committee granted one-year extension by FIFA
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)
THE FIFA-appointed normalisation committee has been granted a one-year extension by FIFA to complete its mandate.
The Robert Hadad-led administration now remains at the helm of Trinidad and Tobago football until March 31, 2023.
This was confirmed by the governing body’s general secretary Fatma Samoura on Friday.
Initially, the normalisation committee’s tenure was scheduled to end on March 26, 2022.
But, owing to an array of legal drawbacks stemming from the TTFA board of directors’ disagreement with the committee’s appointment in 2020, partnered with pandemic challenges, FIFA has opted to extend the committee’s reign for an additional year to assist them in achieving their core objectives.
The FIFA statement read, “The Bureau (of the FIFA council) took note that the actions taken by members of the former board of directors of the TTFA (TT Football Association) greatly hindered and significantly impacted the work and mandate of the normalisation committee, as it had to devote considerable effort to countering such actions.
“In addition, that the tasks assigned to the normalisation committee were subsequently delayed due to the covid19 pandemic and sanitary restrictions imposed by the government of TT. The Bureau also took note that there were certain issues that led to the backlog in the normal operations of the TTFA, including finance.
“This contributed to the inability to appoint an independent auditor, which in turn meant that no audited financial statements could be prepared (and thus presented); the inability to make payments directly to the TTFA’s bank account due to a high risk of garnishment, thereby restricting the TTFA from making immediate payments when necessary and having more freedom with regard to the use of the funds; and the budget cuts imposed due to the multiple claims and payment demands from creditors.”
The Bureau also acknowledged that in November, due to the current total debts of the TTFA, the normalisation committee notified the office of the Supervisory of Insolvency of its intention to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of TT.
They then partnered with a licensed trustee under the Act to manage the debt proposal process.
“Under the above-described circumstances and considering all the urgent and complex challenges the TTFA is still facing, the Bureau decided on December 17 to extend the mandate of the normalisation committee until 31 March 2023 at the latest.”
In March 2020, the normalisation committee, comprising Hadad, Nigel Romano, Judy Daniel and Nicholas Gomez, was appointed by FIFA after the William Wallace-led executive was removed by the governing body owing to mounting debt and mismanagement.
The normalisation committee was then given a mandate to run the TTFA’s daily affairs, to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA administration, to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary), and ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress, and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
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To be slightly controversial :D I feelin we also gettin punish for money and opportunity lost in d last WC :P
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To be slightly controversial :D I feelin we also gettin punish for money and opportunity lost in d last WC :P
Yep!
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To be slightly controversial :D I feelin we also gettin punish for money and opportunity lost in d last WC :P
Yep!
people doh realize just how much dat loss cost d U.S. and dey power interests, hundreds of millions, if not billions, went up in smoke on dat faithful day
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To be slightly controversial :D I feelin we also gettin punish for money and opportunity lost in d last WC :P
Yep!
people doh realize just how much dat loss cost d U.S. and dey power interests, hundreds of millions, if not billions, went up in smoke on dat faithful day
how so ?
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To be slightly controversial :D I feelin we also gettin punish for money and opportunity lost in d last WC :P
Yep!
people doh realize just how much dat loss cost d U.S. and dey power interests, hundreds of millions, if not billions, went up in smoke on dat faithful day
how so ?
ditto, ditto. ???
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TTFA's End of Year Greetings from NC Chairman.
TTFA Media.
What a year 2021 has been! To describe it as a challenging year may be an understatement as we’ve had more than our share of disruption and difficulty, and, in too many instances, personal loss and pain.
These are unprecedented times; the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all of us in one way or another; and football has been no different. Like the rest of the local sporting fraternity, all our leagues and competitions have had to be put on hold, delaying the progress we had all hoped to achieve. Globally, sport continues to face challenges as new strains of the virus emerge.
On the bright side, scientists have come together to develop vaccines to help protect us from the worst of the virus. While many have mixed views on the efficacy of the vaccines, it is the only defence we have against this deadly disease. I encourage everyone that hasn’t been vaccinated to speak with their doctor about the importance of so doing.
This year, sport has delivered many bright and inspiring moments and have been a welcome salve to troubling times. Both our Men and Women’s National Teams have been putting in the hard work in the face of very trying conditions, and we are beginning to see the fruits of their efforts.
Our athletes are always reminded that pain is temporary and that they must push past it to achieve glory. Their resilience and determination are lessons we must embrace to help keep us hopeful and positive.
While the past year has been a frustrating one, we must put it behind us and focus on making tomorrow a better day. Let us persevere, do the right things and together we will make 2022 a better year.
Like every other organisation, the work of the Normalization Committee was hampered by COVID, and we were unable to implement much of what we had planned. These setbacks have not diminished our commitment and our resolve to get football back onto a sound and sustainable footing, that would enable future administrations to focus on the development of the game.
Finally, as we get together with our families and friends during this holiday period, I implore you to do so safely and responsibly, and let us spare a thought and prayer for the ones who have gone before us.
On behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association and the wider football fraternity, I extend sincere season’s greetings to all our fellow countrymen and look forward with determination to us all working together to make 2022 a better year.
Warm Regards,
Robert Hadad
Chairman
Normalization Committee
Trinidad & Tobago Football Association
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TTFA extends condolences following the death of Normalisation Committee Deputy Chair Judy Daniel
TTFA Media
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is saddened by the passing of Ms Judy Daniel, the deputy chair of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee.
Judy died peacefully today in the US in the presence of her relatives and family.
The members of the TTFA and the Normalisation Committee extend its deepest condolences to Judy’s family and friends and will remember her as a tireless and devoted friend, who always selflessly gave her best in service of the Association.
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TTFA extends condolences following the death of Normalisation Committee Deputy Chair Judy Daniel
TTFA Media
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is saddened by the passing of Ms Judy Daniel, the deputy chair of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee.
Judy died peacefully today in the US in the presence of her relatives and family.
The members of the TTFA and the Normalisation Committee extend its deepest condolences to Judy’s family and friends and will remember her as a tireless and devoted friend, who always selflessly gave her best in service of the Association.
Was there ever a sighting of her in T&T or was all of her activity conducted remotely?
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https://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/clubs-may-consider-breaking-away-from-ncttfa-6.2.1465454.e00664b5bf
Clubs may consider breaking away from NC/TTFA
by Walter Alibey, Trinidad Guardian. 10'03'22
T&T Pro League and Super League clubs are now considering whether the Normalisation Committee, installed by the sport's world governing body (FIFA), has been taking their concerns and proposals to Minister of Sports and Community Development- Shamfa Cudjoe, as per an agreement with both leagues, the normalisation Committee, the managers of the T&T Football Association.
The members of the boards of both leagues do not believe they are.
An agreement was reached among the pro and super leagues, the T&T Football Association and the Ministry of Sports for the Unified League in the form of a National League, to replace the existing set-up of the T&T Pro League and Super League as the top tier and second-tier tournaments. The four organisations had even agreed to create a Steering Committee consisting of representatives from each organisation to pilot the League.
This new development comes in the wake of criticisms by Minister Cudjoe over the lacklustre responses from the pro league and T&T Football Association to the official reopening of sports in a safe-zone arrangement.
Cudjoe said the T&T Pro League has been crying and saying the minister and her government have been stifling football, but now that the sport has returned, there have been little to no responses from the pro league and TTFA.
"The way, for instance, the Pro League was crying out, I expected to see the Pro League and the T&TFA pull up their socks and get out there but that is not happening," Cudjoe said.
On Thursday Guardian Media Sports reached out to members of pro league outfits W Connection, San Juan Jabloteh, Point Fortin Civic and Morvant Caledonia United for comments on Cudjoe's statement, but was directed to acting chairman Brent Sancho who was described as the designated spokesperson for the league.
Sancho, the Central FC founding member told Guardian Media Sports that Cudjoe's statement has left them asking if the normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad and his members have been articulating their concerns to the minister of sports.
As such a decision was taken to pen an official letter to minister Cudjoe expressing their concerns and the way they intend to move forward as a unit. The letter is expected to reach minister Cudjoe's office in a few days' time.
In December last year, the normalisation committee was expected to make a presentation to minister Cudjoe regarding the league, but since then, however, there has been no communication regarding that presentation or if it in fact did take place.
According to Sancho yesterday: " The pro league board decided they will write directly to the minister of sports, so a letter is being penned by the board to put to the minister of sport to articulate their position and to articulate the timelines of what transpired over the last year and a half.
As a founding member of Central FC, the T&T Pro League was approached by the normalisation committee head about a Unified League and was also told that any communication that would go back to the government should go through the normalisation committee.
We requested at that point in time, that the normalisation committee assist with players who were not being paid because of the COVID-19 pandemic, through the COVID relief fund that was given to them by the FIFA, and also to request from the minister of sports, the last tranche of monies that were Cabinet-approved, also to assist with players who were not playing because of the restrictions of the pandemic, but both requests were denied according to the head of the normalisation committee," Sancho said.
Guardian Media Sports was informed that there are concerns regarding the normalisation committee which is not holding up to its end of the agreement which could lead to a break-away by the clubs.
Cudjoe claims that her ministry has been awaiting proposals from the pro league was also met with disgust, Sancho explained: "We have sent in proposals. We have sent in a mock-up of a Cabinet note about a year and a half ago and all of this was a pre-agreement with the normalisation committee. So we had a few proposals in, and then the discussions came about the Unified League which, at that point in time, the pro league, through the understanding of the NC that all discussions regarding league football had to go through the steering committee/normalisation committee."
He continued: "It was supposed to be an official National League that would now serve as the qualifiers for CONCACAF and serve as the top and second-tier league of T&T. Everything else in T&T would have been considered a minor league. When the normalisation committee met with the minister of sports regarding the league, they took the consolidated approach of what was said by the stakeholders, but when we asked to send their representatives, that was not done, so what we said in discussion was presented to the minister of sports, however, we are not certain if it was the same things discussed."
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Andre Baptiste interviews Robert Hadad, Chairman of the Normalisation Committee (https://www.facebook.com/DFearlessOne/videos/3343081889343737/).
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VFFOTT wants answers from Daniel, FIFA’s Normalisation Committee.
By Keith Clement (T&T Guardian).
he Veterans Footballers Foundation of T&T (VFFOTT) is calling on Trustee Maria Daniel to answer several questions in writing following her letter to creditors dated December 16, 2022, which indicated that payments to creditors are in jeopardy following the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of members on December 10, 2022.
At that meeting, a vote was approved for an election of a new executive and that meeting is to take place by March 18, 2023.
The meeting also agreed that the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee which was appointed by FIFA in March 2020 needs to wrap up its mandate before the March deadline.
However, Daniel letter has suggested that the decision made in that meeting have affected the creditors who were to receive their payments by Christmas Day (December 25, 2022).
According to the release from Daniel, the proposal of TTFA appointed Trustee on November 8th, 2021, said: “Pursuant to Section 44 of the Bankruptcy Insolvency Act, I do confirm that the Proposal was approved and passed in the High Court of Justice on September 28, 2022. However, has raised some concerns by the financier as it relates to the non-financial requirements and terms and conditions of the financing.”
In its letter dated December 24, 2022, and addressed to Amiel Mohammed the acting General Secretary of the TTFA, VFFOTT’s President Selby Browne is requesting four items from Daniel, namely: copies of the Minutes of the meeting called by the Normalisation Committee to present for the TTFA Membership approval; the petition presented to the High Court of Justice of T&T on behalf of the TTFA Membership and approved on September 28, 2022; the name of the Financier for the proposes interest-free US$3.5 million financial instrument; the status of work done by both the Trustee and Normalisation Committee with the requirement for policies, guidelines, and management structure recommendations and whether both the Trustee and Normalisation Committee have plans to ensure payment to TTFA creditors will commence on or before January 15th 2023.
Meanwhile, when contacted by Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday Browne disagreed that the December 10 EGM should be used as a reason to delay payments to the Creditors.
He said: “Any attempt that seeks to indicate the grounds for the inability of the Trustee and the Normalisation Committee to implement the scheduled pre-Christmas payments to creditors, which was formally announced and confirmed with the TTFA creditors, cannot be as a result of the outcome of the December 10th TTFA EGM called by the Normalisation Committee. The pre-Christmas schedule must have been predicated on the preparation and deliverability of the relevant undertaking of section 1.7 of the proposal and agreement having been made by both the Trustee and the Normalisation Committee in its petition presented to the High Court of Justice of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of the TTFA Membership. The inability to make the promised pre-Christmas payments has two things to do with the TTFA EGM of December 10, 2022, the First is “Nothing”, and the Second, “Absolutely Nothing”.
Asked if the AGM scheduled for March 18, 2023 should be the Normalisation Committee’s final act, Browne responded: “Most definitely. You retain the services of a contractor to perform certain services and upon competition of the items listed in the mandate you perform the final act for which you are paid and return to your respective areas of competence.”
With regards to amendments to the TTFA constitution, Browne said: “The mandate with respect to any amendments to the Constitution clearly states “if required. The facts are right next door in Guyana, the FIFA Normalisation Committee held an election for the new Executive a few months ago and the new Executive has presided over its constitution amendments.”
Asked if the membership is confident that the Normalisation Committee will finally hand over TTFA come March 2023 he pointed out that: “The Normalisation Committee has been appointed and is paid by FIFA to complete a mandate within a specific period, in this case for a two-year period initially and extended by a further year. It is quite possible the Normalisation Committee may wish to beg FIFA for additional time to complete the work originally assigned for a two-year period.”
Asked to comment as to who is footing the interest-free US$3.5 million financial instrument to pay Creditors, Browne revealed: “The short answer is not officially. That information has been requested by VFFOTT Letter of Demand to the TTFA General Secretary Ag, in addition to the copy of the minutes of the meeting called by the Normalisation Committee to present for the TTFA Membership approval, the petition presented to the High Court of Justice of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of the TTFA Membership and approved on September 28, 2022. The response to this is already well-known.
The unfortunate reality is certain members of the NC and present and past members of the TTFA for some unknown reason have been of the view that the Normalisation Committee has been placed to administer football in T&T for eternity, and not a contractor appointed to complete a mandate within a specific period, for which due payment is made.”
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FIFA Decides...Hadad cannot guarantee NC will step aside when term ends in March
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
FIFA will ultimately decide whether the TTFA normalisation committee (NC), first appointed in March 2020, will stay on after its three-year term ends next March 18.
Local businessman Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, was asked for comment on whether the NC would demit office when its term ends. Initially installed for 24 months, in March 2020, the NC was given a further one-year extension and has just under three months before that extension is set to expire.
Recently, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) delegates met and voted to hold elections a day after the NC steps down, thereby allowing for the installation of a new Executive to run local football. But Hadad suggested that the NC leaving office may not be an automatic process.
“It is not the decision of the NC how long we go. It is the decision of the FIFA council,” Hadad stated in response to several questions posed by the Express.
“The term of the NC is guided by FIFA and the end of the term is in March 2023. The mandate of the NC is also incomplete at this moment in time and we are continuing to work to finalise it,” he further explained.
Hadad also addressed a rumour circulating that the NC was seeking a two-year extension. “Any adjustments to the term of the NC, or any Member Association’s NC, is a decision of the FIFA Council,” he added.
Hadad cited difficult circumstances for not yet completing the work assigned to them when FIFA took over the running of T&T football–almost three years ago, when dissolving the TTFA executive led by then president William Wallace.
FIFA cited the TTFA’s multi-million-dollar debt and the threat of insolvency when it aggressively deposed the TTFA executive and installed Hadad as caretaker.
“The NC has faced numerous challenges since its appointment; Covid-19 pandemic, court matters, suspension from FIFA, approval of audited financial statements and navigating the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) proposal process,” Hadad reiterated.
Further, Hadad seemed to suggest that the NC had not yet navigated its way through the debt-repayment plan, aimed at repaying creditors and clearing the TTFA multi-million-dollar loan via an interest-free US$3.5 million loan, that the TTFA will have 10 years to repay.
“The BIA process, which is still ongoing, is an extremely sensitive matter. No other member Association has ever found itself in a similar situation of having tens of millions of dollars of debt,” he pointed out.
“It is also important to note, that if the approval of the proposal process failed before Justice Rampersad in September 2022 or fails within the prescribed six-month window thereafter, the TTFA will be forced into dissolution and effectively no longer exist,” Hadad further stated. “That is not something that anyone wants, so the management of this process, which was started in 2021 and has had many legal steps since, must be carefully managed,” he concluded.
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Not so fast...FIFA warns Normalisation Committee must complete all tasks before handover
T&T Express
FIFA, the world governing body for football, is putting the brakes on plans of some TTFA members to have an election of officers, warning that the Normalisation Committee (NC) must complete its mandate before any such event can occur.
In correspondence entitled “Situation of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association” issued by e-mail to the NC Friday, FIFA noted that at a December 10 Extraordinary Meeting, TTFA members voted in favour of, and approved a motion requesting that the NC convene another Extraordinary General Meeting by March 18 to elect a new board of directors.
In the letter, signed by FIFA chief member association officer Kenny Jean-Marie, FIFA stated that the bureau of the FIFA Council decided on March 1, 2020 to appoint a Normalisation Committee for the TTFA in accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statutes.
Jean-Marie reminded that the NC’s mandate is to run the TTFA’s daily affairs, to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA administration, to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure its compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress.
“...And, as a last step and only once the above-mentioned tasks are fully completed, to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four- year mandate,” Jean-Marie emphasised.
The FIFA official added that due to the urgent and complex challenges that the TTFA is still facing, the bureau of the FIFA Council decided on December 17, 2021 to extend the mandate of the NC until March 31 this year.
“In this regard, FIFA expects the TTFA to ensure that the mandate of the Normalisation Committee is carried out and fulfilled in strict compliance with the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council—with the last task being the organisation of elections. Therefore, if the TTFA’s Normalisation Committee convenes the requested Extraordinary General Meeting before all tasks assigned to them have been accordingly carried out, this would go against the mandate of the Normalisation Committee established by the Bureau of the FIFA Council,” Jean-Marie stated.
FIFA advised that should the elections be held before “all other tasks are completed, we would be obliged to submit the matter to our relevant decision-making body for further consideration and possible decisions based on the FIFA Statutes.”
Jean-Marie said FIFA appreciated the great efforts made by the NC during its mandate, especially in attempting to finally resolve the TTFA’s outstanding debts, “so that the TTFA can continue to promote, improve, and develop football in the territory of Trinidad and Tobago.”
In response to the FIFA letter, Selby Browne, president of the Veteran Footballers Federation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) and a TTFA member, wrote to the Association’s acting general secretary Amiel Mohammed yesterday requesting a notice for a TTFA general meeting, “in the shortest possible order”, to ensure: “a receipt of confirmation of the new date on which the payment of creditors will commence by the Trustee and NC; the date set for receipt of the requirements for policies, guidelines and management structure recommendations, to ensure that the TTFA’s governance be restructured and oversight strengthened; the name of the financier with whom both the Trustee and NC identified for the proposal and agreement petition presented to the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of the TTFA membership; and the date set by the NC to organise and conduct elections for a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year term.”
Browne noted the term of the NC will likely be extended despite the fact that all of the responsibilities of the Committee as clearly stated in the mandate have not been completed within the scheduled term and extended period.
In comments to the Sunday Express, Browne said: “The reality is there is no active football from youth to Pro League, international matches, sponsorship revenue and investors; no payment to creditors despite filing to the High Court of TT with the agreement of creditors who were given a payment date in December 2022; no date set for elections of a new TTFA executive. The FIFA-appointed and funded NC has quite simply not delivered on its mandate.”
In his letter, Browne stated the VFOTT is looking forward to the NC’s early action in keeping with the FIFA letter and ensuring the early completion of the mandate of the NC, “for the TTFA to return to active administration and management of football as the FIFA member in good standing within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.”
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“We reconsider…” TTFA members bend to Fifa, as Hadad’s reign continues
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Less than six hours after threatening to refer the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to the Gianni Infantino-led Bureau of the Fifa Council for daring to call an election in keeping with its constitution, the world governing body had its response.
Not for the first time, the TTFA’s members are unwilling to risk suspension from the international fold—so Fifa will have its way.
At an online meeting yesterday evening, the TTFA members, according to Eastern Football Association (EFATT) president Kieron Edwards, agreed to ask the Fifa-appointed Normalisation Committee to allow them to reverse an earlier decision meant to force out the Robert Hadad-led body.
It was not a unanimous decision but Edwards insisted that it was a majority view. Presumably, he would quickly support his letter to acting general secretary Amiel Mohammed with the requisite signatures to call an EGM.
The immediate repercussion is that the normalisation committee’s term will run until 31 March rather than, as members insisted, 18 March.
However, Fifa’s insistence that administrators in Zurich—rather than stakeholders in Trinidad and Tobago—would decide when the global body ends its occupation of the two island republic is likely to mean that Hadad will receive a second extension.
On 17 March 2020, the Bureau of the Fifa Council gave its normalisation committee two years to fulfill the following mandate:
- run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
- establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA administration;
- review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and ensure their compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- and organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
As of 21 January 2023, the three-member committee of Hadad, Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez has completed none of the above.
Concerned by the perceived lack of competence and consultation at the helm—presumably reflected too in poor results on the field and a complete absence of domestic senior football—the members were anxious to put the “Hadad era” behind them, despite the possible ramifications to creditors.
On Thursday, TTFA trustee Maria Daniel reiterated a threat to the local membership that they would be denied an interest-free US$3.5m loan from a still undeclared backer, believed to be Fifa, if they persisted with plans to remove Hadad.
Failure to secure the loan would put the TTFA at risk of bankruptcy. Still, the members hesitated to reverse their decision taken at last month’s EGM and insisted on time to consult with each other on Friday evening.
However, a despatch yesterday evening by Fifa Chief Member Associations officer Kenny Jean-Marie broke any lingering resolve.
“If the TTFA’s normalisation committee convenes the requested Extraordinary General Meeting [on 18 March], before all tasks assigned to them have been accordingly carried out,” stated the Fifa missive, “this would go against the mandate of the normalisation committee established by the Bureau of the Fifa Council.
“Please be advised that, should the elections be held before all other tasks are completed, we would be obliged to submit the matter to our relevant decision-making body for further consideration and possible decisions based on the Fifa Statutes.”
In keeping with Fifa’s recent relationship with the southern Caribbean island, Jean-Marie emailed only Hadad and left it for him to relay the governing body’s view to the membership.
The only football officials that Fifa recognises on the island are the ones directly in its employ. No direct communication is held with Trinidad and Tobago’s stakeholders—from whom a president will eventually emerge.
Jean-Marie’s email was issued barely half hour before yesterday’s membership meeting and, in keeping with the inefficiency of Fifa’s rule since March 2020, everyone did not have a copy when members sat down to discuss their possible response to Daniel’s threat.
Once Fifa’s position was properly relayed though—by Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Boni Bishop, rather than the Acting TTFA General Secretary—there was nothing else worth discussing.
Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) president Selby Browne suggested that members save face by forcing the normalisation committee to approach them with a plea for time.
At 9.18pm, Browne wrote Mohammed and requested deadlines for payment to creditors, completion of the NC’s mandate, and the name of the TTFA’s secret financial backer.
“[…] We look forward to your early action in keeping with the Fifa letter,” stated Browne, “and ensuring the early completion of the mandate of the Normalisation Committee for the TTFA to return to active administration and management of football as the Fifa member in good standing within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.”
His colleagues did not have the heart—or stomach—for such gamesmanship. At 11.45pm, Edwards wrote Mohammed, Browne and the TTFA Members and insisted he spoke “on behalf of the majority of the membership”.
“At tonight’s meeting, the email letter from Fifa to the TTFA […] was discussed and notice taken of its contents,” stated Edwards.
He further advised that the members now resolve that:
“In view of the contents of Fifa’s letter of 20 January 2023 to the TTFA, be it decided that a letter be sent to the TTFA’s Normalisation Committee advising that the Members would be pleased if the Normalisation Committee, pursuant to Article 29.1 of the TTFA’s Constitution, were to urgently convene an Extraordinary Meeting of the TTFA to consider an item to review the decision taken at the EGM of the TTFA of 10 December 2022.”
Ironically, Edwards’ boss at Pro League outfit, Terminix La Horquetta Rangers, Richard Ferguson, was the person whose letter assured Fifa of the TTFA’s “acquiescence” in the first place, on 25 October 2020—when, again under the threat of suspension, Members voted 33-0 (with five non-votes) to stop all legal action against Fifa, and to replace then president William Wallace with the Hadad-led committee.
“The TTFA must advise that its members have agreed to abide with the conditions of the normalisation committee and will co-operate fully to ensure that the mandate of the committee is realised,” Ferguson wrote to Fifa, via Hadad. “In addition, let me take this opportunity to humbly apologise to you, the other members of the normalisation committee, Fifa, Concacaf and CFU for any embarrassment and inconvenience caused by TTFA representatives over the last year.
“I also hope that a strong positive relationship can be re-established as we move forward for the betterment of football in Trinidad and Tobago. This information is conveyed to you for relay to Fifa, at your earliest convenience.”
In the interim, Ferguson’s influence within the domestic game soared as the Northern, Eastern, Eastern Counties, Tobago, Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and Women’s League of Football (WoLF) all either have sponsorship deals linked to Ferguson or have his employees or associates in elected posts.
Ferguson, a clever but controversial figure, would have been an early favourite with a March election. That appears unlikely to take place now.
Fifa will leave only when Fifa is ready to go.
Edwards, Ferguson and the local football membership accepted defeated on that score yesterday.
Hadad’s tenure—“the era of the Ice Cream Man”—is not over yet.
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“We reconsider…” TTFA members bend to Fifa, as Hadad’s reign continues
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Less than six hours after threatening to refer the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to the Gianni Infantino-led Bureau of the Fifa Council for daring to call an election in keeping with its constitution, the world governing body had its response.
Not for the first time, the TTFA’s members are unwilling to risk suspension from the international fold—so Fifa will have its way.
At an online meeting yesterday evening, the TTFA members, according to Eastern Football Association (EFATT) president Kieron Edwards, agreed to ask the Fifa-appointed Normalisation Committee to allow them to reverse an earlier decision meant to force out the Robert Hadad-led body.
It was not a unanimous decision but Edwards insisted that it was a majority view. Presumably, he would quickly support his letter to acting general secretary Amiel Mohammed with the requisite signatures to call an EGM.
The immediate repercussion is that the normalisation committee’s term will run until 31 March rather than, as members insisted, 18 March.
However, Fifa’s insistence that administrators in Zurich—rather than stakeholders in Trinidad and Tobago—would decide when the global body ends its occupation of the two island republic is likely to mean that Hadad will receive a second extension.
On 17 March 2020, the Bureau of the Fifa Council gave its normalisation committee two years to fulfill the following mandate:
- run the TTFA’s daily affairs;
- establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA administration;
- review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and ensure their compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- and organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.
As of 21 January 2023, the three-member committee of Hadad, Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez has completed none of the above.
Concerned by the perceived lack of competence and consultation at the helm—presumably reflected too in poor results on the field and a complete absence of domestic senior football—the members were anxious to put the “Hadad era” behind them, despite the possible ramifications to creditors.
On Thursday, TTFA trustee Maria Daniel reiterated a threat to the local membership that they would be denied an interest-free US$3.5m loan from a still undeclared backer, believed to be Fifa, if they persisted with plans to remove Hadad.
Failure to secure the loan would put the TTFA at risk of bankruptcy. Still, the members hesitated to reverse their decision taken at last month’s EGM and insisted on time to consult with each other on Friday evening.
However, a despatch yesterday evening by Fifa Chief Member Associations officer Kenny Jean-Marie broke any lingering resolve.
“If the TTFA’s normalisation committee convenes the requested Extraordinary General Meeting [on 18 March], before all tasks assigned to them have been accordingly carried out,” stated the Fifa missive, “this would go against the mandate of the normalisation committee established by the Bureau of the Fifa Council.
“Please be advised that, should the elections be held before all other tasks are completed, we would be obliged to submit the matter to our relevant decision-making body for further consideration and possible decisions based on the Fifa Statutes.”
In keeping with Fifa’s recent relationship with the southern Caribbean island, Jean-Marie emailed only Hadad and left it for him to relay the governing body’s view to the membership.
The only football officials that Fifa recognises on the island are the ones directly in its employ. No direct communication is held with Trinidad and Tobago’s stakeholders—from whom a president will eventually emerge.
Jean-Marie’s email was issued barely half hour before yesterday’s membership meeting and, in keeping with the inefficiency of Fifa’s rule since March 2020, everyone did not have a copy when members sat down to discuss their possible response to Daniel’s threat.
Once Fifa’s position was properly relayed though—by Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) vice-president Boni Bishop, rather than the Acting TTFA General Secretary—there was nothing else worth discussing.
Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) president Selby Browne suggested that members save face by forcing the normalisation committee to approach them with a plea for time.
At 9.18pm, Browne wrote Mohammed and requested deadlines for payment to creditors, completion of the NC’s mandate, and the name of the TTFA’s secret financial backer.
“[…] We look forward to your early action in keeping with the Fifa letter,” stated Browne, “and ensuring the early completion of the mandate of the Normalisation Committee for the TTFA to return to active administration and management of football as the Fifa member in good standing within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.”
His colleagues did not have the heart—or stomach—for such gamesmanship. At 11.45pm, Edwards wrote Mohammed, Browne and the TTFA Members and insisted he spoke “on behalf of the majority of the membership”.
“At tonight’s meeting, the email letter from Fifa to the TTFA […] was discussed and notice taken of its contents,” stated Edwards.
He further advised that the members now resolve that:
“In view of the contents of Fifa’s letter of 20 January 2023 to the TTFA, be it decided that a letter be sent to the TTFA’s Normalisation Committee advising that the Members would be pleased if the Normalisation Committee, pursuant to Article 29.1 of the TTFA’s Constitution, were to urgently convene an Extraordinary Meeting of the TTFA to consider an item to review the decision taken at the EGM of the TTFA of 10 December 2022.”
Ironically, Edwards’ boss at Pro League outfit, Terminix La Horquetta Rangers, Richard Ferguson, was the person whose letter assured Fifa of the TTFA’s “acquiescence” in the first place, on 25 October 2020—when, again under the threat of suspension, Members voted 33-0 (with five non-votes) to stop all legal action against Fifa, and to replace then president William Wallace with the Hadad-led committee.
“The TTFA must advise that its members have agreed to abide with the conditions of the normalisation committee and will co-operate fully to ensure that the mandate of the committee is realised,” Ferguson wrote to Fifa, via Hadad. “In addition, let me take this opportunity to humbly apologise to you, the other members of the normalisation committee, Fifa, Concacaf and CFU for any embarrassment and inconvenience caused by TTFA representatives over the last year.
“I also hope that a strong positive relationship can be re-established as we move forward for the betterment of football in Trinidad and Tobago. This information is conveyed to you for relay to Fifa, at your earliest convenience.”
In the interim, Ferguson’s influence within the domestic game soared as the Northern, Eastern, Eastern Counties, Tobago, Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and Women’s League of Football (WoLF) all either have sponsorship deals linked to Ferguson or have his employees or associates in elected posts.
Ferguson, a clever but controversial figure, would have been an early favourite with a March election. That appears unlikely to take place now.
Fifa will leave only when Fifa is ready to go.
Edwards, Ferguson and the local football membership accepted defeated on that score yesterday.
Hadad’s tenure—“the era of the Ice Cream Man”—is not over yet.
deliberately trying to destroy and cripple TT football and they have succeded.
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Change Your Plan: TTFA membership called to EGM over elections
By Garth Wattley (T&T Express)
The membership of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association have another big decision to make on Saturday. It concerns whether or not to rescind the motion carried at the last Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on December 10, to hold presidential elections on March 18.
TTFA members have been given notice of the meeting which is scheduled to take place at the Home of Football from 10 a.m.
On December 10, the TTFA held an EGM where the majority of the delegates voted for a set date for new elections. Four voted against and two abstained.
However, Robert Hadad, chairman of the normalisation committee (NC) appointed by world governing body FIFA in March 2020, to address the TTFA’s massive debt situation as part of a wider mandate, says the EGM is necessary “for the stakeholders to understand that FIFA is not approving us having an election on March 18. FIFA at the end of the day wants all of the mandate to be completed and a part of the mandate is the payment of the debt and constitutional reform.”
In a January 20 letter to Hadad, FIFA’s Chief Member Associations officer Kenny Jean-Marie stated: ”FIFA expects the TTFA to ensure that the mandate of the normalisation committee is carried out and fulfilled in strict compliance with the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council — with the last task being the organisation of elections.
Therefore, if the TTFA´s normalisation committee convenes the requested Extraordinary General Meeting, before all tasks assigned to them have been accordingly carried out, this would go against the mandate of the normalisation committee established by the Bureau of the FIFA Council.
“Please be advised that should the elections be held before all other tasks are completed, we would be obliged to submit the matter to our relevant decision-making body for further consideration and possible decisions based on the FIFA Statutes.”
Asked Monday what would happen if the membership upheld the motion to stage elections next month, Hadad said: “...we will have a problem with FIFA I am guessing...FIFA will not support anyone rushing them into an election.”
For the motion to be changed, at least 50 per cent of the membership at the meeting must vote in favour. Fifty per cent of the TTFA’s 47 member-delegates are also required to be at the EGM for there to be a quorum.
The NC’s term extended by a year, is due to conclude at the end of March. However, Hadad pointed out that the committee still had outstanding matters to deal with.
“We still have to complete the debt repayment exercise. We’ve had some issues (that) slowed down the whole process and the financier has to give us the loan agreement and then we have to execute on it; we have to pay all the creditors. Whether all of that can be done by the end of March, I’m not sure.
By court order, the NC is required to pay the TTFA’s creditors by March 23.
“In addition to that, we still have constitutional reform to do, so I am sitting in the wings, waiting to hear from FIFA. That’s a decision for FIFA as to where we go next.” Haddad added however, that, “the direction given to me thus far has not indicated that anybody is talking about an extension.”
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By court order, the NC is required to pay the TTFA’s creditors by March 23.
“In addition to that, we still have constitutional reform to do, so I am sitting in the wings, waiting to hear from FIFA. That’s a decision for FIFA as to where we go next.” Haddad added however, that, “the direction given to me thus far has not indicated that anybody is talking about an extension.”
Wait on FIFA for more toilet paper to clean up all the shite that it have with organized football dey we.
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Hadad stays: Normalisation Committee gets another extension; some TTFA members not happy
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN Robert Hadad will remain in control of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) for at least another year.
This comes after the term of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee was extended for a second time by FIFA, the international body governing world football.
Through secretary general Fatma Samoura, FIFA informed Hadad that the term of the Normalisation Committee had been extended a second time.
“Due to the challenges that the TTFA continues to face and to ensure that the mandate of the Normalisation Committee (i.e. revision and amendment of the statutes and organisation and conduction of elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate) is carried out and fulfilled in strict compliance with the Bureau’s decision, the Bureau decided on 27 February 2023 to extend the mandate of the Normalisation Committee until 31 March 2024 at the latest,” Samoura’s correspondence stated.
In December 2022, TTFA delegates held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) where the majority opted to hasten the Normalisation Committee’s departure by voting to have a new TTFA executive installed via elections on March 18, 2023. That motion was later quashed at a subsequent EGM.
And the extension given to Hadad’s committee has not gone down well with some who wanted to see FIFA’s control end.
Expressing no surprise, TTFA presidential front-runner and delegate Richard Ferguson would only say that a meeting was being organised among TTFA delegates to deal with the latest development.
“The membership are having a meeting and they will deal with that,” stated Ferguson yesterday. “They are calling one (meeting) and they will sit down and decide how they are going to deal with that (NC extension).”
Selby Browne, former TTFA presidential candidate and current president of the Veteran Footballers Foundation, saw the latest development as FIFA entrenching its control over Trinidad and Tobago football.
“I now look forward to the NC’s completion of the two-year assignment in this fourth year,” Browne commented.
FIFA appointed the Normalisation Committee after removing the TTFA executive led by former president William Wallace and appointing Hadad’s management team to run the Association, spotlighting spiralling debt for its decision.
Having been first appointed in March 2020 and given a two-year mandate, which was subsequently extended by a further year to March 17, 2023, Hadad’s committee was due to demit office this month. However, in announcing a second extension, Samoura’s correspondence indicated that consideration was given to allow the NC to complete its given tasks to liquidate the multi-million-dollar TTFA debt and also amend the TTFA statutes, paving the way for the election of a new TTFA executive.
The TTFA Normalisation Committee, through trustee Maria Daniel, commenced a debt settlement exercise with creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), which will see smaller creditors paid in full, while those with larger sums owing will get a share of the well over TT$50 million the TTFA owes to them.
Samoura’s e-mailed letter indicated that the FIFA Bureau took into consideration that the debt-repayment process is not yet complete. And for the first time, Samoura also confirmed FIFA as being the financier behind the removal of the huge TTFA debt burden.
“FIFA has now approved financial assistance to the TTFA, subject to signing a strict financial agreement between FIFA and the TTFA,” Samoura disclosed.
“The Bureau acknowledged that, with the primary objective of allowing the Normalisation Committee to fulfil one of its main tasks and with a view to preventing the TTFA’s complete liquidation, as well as avoiding significant long-term harm to the organisation and football in general in Trinidad and Tobago, FIFA decided to provide financial support to the TTFA to address its extreme situation.”
“Consequently, and considering the backlog, the Normalisation Committee has not yet been able to begin revising the statutes, another of its main tasks. Given the above circumstances and the fact that the BIA process, according to the proposal outlined to the creditors and the court, requires not only payment of the creditors but also that TTFA’s governance be restructured, and its oversight strengthened, we consider that it is of the utmost importance that the normalisation committee complete the BIA process.”
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Hadad: “You can’t play football with the Vatican and Tobago!” Fifa extends TTFA’s normalisation
By: Lasana Liburd (Wired868).
Trinidad and Tobago will remain under the direct grip of Fifa for at least another year, as the world governing body today unilaterally declared that it extended the mandate of its normalisation committee on the two-island republic.
The decision, made by the Gianni Infantino-led Bureau of the Fifa Council, was made on Monday 27 February but only relayed to local stakeholders today, via Fifa’s installed leader on the islands, Robert Hadad.
And it follows Hadad’s bullish claim to members, at an Extraordinary General Meeting last month, that the TTFA would collapse into chaos, receivership and isolation if he walked away.
Fifa, via a missive signed by general secretary Fatma Samoura, stated that Hadad and co-members Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez are here to stay—for another year at least.
“The Bureau decided on 27 February 2023 to extend the mandate of the normalisation committee until 31 March 2024 at the latest,” stated Fifa.
It is the third time Fifa set a departure date for its normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago that it promised to follow. On each previous occasion, the controversial sporting body broke its own word.
Fifa disbanded the democratically elected executive of president William Wallace on 17 March 2020 via Article 8.2 of its Statutes, which states:
“Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period of time.”
Infantino’s Bureau announced then that the mandate of the Hadad-led Normalisation Committee was
- to run the TTFA’s daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;
- to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;
- to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.
“The specified period of time during which the TTFA normalisation committee shall perform its functions shall expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its tasks,” stated Fifa, “but no later than 24 months after its members have been officially appointed by Fifa, which means on 26 March 2022.”
Ironically, the TTFA’s debt was accumulated under the stewardship of autocratic football presidents, whose income and expenditure sheets were annually approved by Fifa. And Infantino personally endorsed late TTFA president David John-Williams for re-election, despite the fact that the football body’s debt rose by almost 200% during his tenure.
The fact that Infantino “normalised” Trinidad and Tobago’s football just three months after local stakeholders voted out John-Williams in favour of Wallace did not go unnoticed either.
The TTFA’s operations under Fifa’s direct control, via Hadad, worsened rather than improved.
Over the last two years, the local football membership complained to the governing body about Hadad’s repeated failure to follow the constitution in terms of general meetings, inactive standing committees, his poor communication with stakeholders, and the non-transparent hiring of coaches and staff whose salaries are paid by the TTFA.
By 24 December 2021, the Bureau of the Fifa Council admitted that its normalisation committee had no chance of completing its tasks in the agreed time.
However, rather than dismiss Hadad and his team, Infantino gave them another year—“[…] until 31 March 2023 at the latest”—to get the job done.
The photo was taken a day after Fenwick’s public altercation with Fuentes, which went unsanctioned by the TTFA.
The Soca Warriors were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup qualifying series by The Bahamas, who are ranked 203rd of Fifa’s 211 member nations.
“The Bureau took note that there were certain issues that led to the backlog in the normal operations of the TTFA,” stated Fifa.
On 8 November 2021, six weeks before their first extension, the Hadad-led normalisation committee appointed Maria Daniel as its trustee to “manage the debt proposal process”. And, under her watch, the TTFA reached an agreement with creditors that would erase the local football body’s debts.
The money to service these debts, approximately US$5m, was provided by a mystery financier whose identity was unknown—until Hadad revealed that it was Fifa, during a general meeting last month.
Today’s missive confirmed Fifa as the guarantor.
“The Bureau acknowledged that, with the primary objective of allowing the normalisation committee to fulfil one of its main tasks,” stated the letter, “and with a view to preventing the TTFA’s complete liquidation as well as avoiding significant long-term harm to the organisation and football in general in Trinidad and Tobago, Fifa decided to provide financial support to the TTFA to address its extreme situation.
“In this context, Fifa has now approved financial assistance to the TTFA subject to signing a strict financial agreement between Fifa and the TTFA.”
Other than handing over its debt management process to Daniel, Hadad and company made limited to no headway on updating the TTFA’s constitution—despite the urging of the membership—while the local body continues to run without standing committees and with no change to its internal financial structures.
(Ironically the Wallace-led TTFA executive, within two months of its election, started a review of its financial structures under the supervision of consultant Kendall Tull, which included meetings with board members, before Fifa stepped in.)
Yet, Fifa suggested its Trinidad and Tobago-based normalisation committee was so busy addressing creditors—a task farmed out to its trustee, two years ago—that it was unable to complete its other tasks.
“Certain recent developments have delayed the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) process,” stated Fifa. “Consequently, and considering the backlog, the normalisation committee has not yet been able to begin revising the statutes, another of its main tasks.
“Given the above circumstances and the fact that the BIA process […] requires not only payment of the creditors but also that TTFA’s governance be restructured and its oversight strengthened, we consider that it is of the utmost importance that the normalisation committee complete the BIA process.
“Furthermore, due to the challenges that the TTFA continues to face and to ensure that the mandate of the normalisation committee […] is carried out and fulfilled in strict compliance with the Bureau’s decision, the Bureau decided on 27 February 2023 to extend the mandate of the normalisation committee until 31 March 2024 at the latest.”
On 10 December 2022, after growing frustrated with the normalisation committee’s sluggish pace and Hadad’s unsatisfactory responses to their concerns, local football members—whose letters to Fifa went unanswered—passed a motion that compelled the normalisation committee to demit office this month.
The motion, moved by Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer, was binding according to the constitution. So unable to ignore a constitutional request by its member association, Fifa threatened to suspend Trinidad and Tobago for exercising its legal right.
As members backed down, Daniel scolded them for finding themselves under Infantino’s whip in the first place.
“How long have you been sitting here as members?” asked Daniel, according to multiple witnesses. “We are talking about (normalisation committee members) who came in for three years… This (debt crisis) happened over 15 years.
“[…] Why did Fifa have to come down and put a big stick on you and put other people in charge? Why didn’t you take control of your own constitution?!”
Daniel’s view was not totally without merit. But it was naďve to the support that sitting football presidents often receive from Fifa, which insulates them from their own membership—not to mention the absolute power that the Zurich-based body gifted its former vice-president Jack Warner.
The fact that Daniel’s relationship with Hadad and Fifa allowed her to chide the persons who indirectly pay her salary was, inadvertently, another example of the TTFA membership’s impotence in matters of governance.
At last month’s EGM, Hadad warmed to Daniel’s theme.
“If I walk away—and this is not [an idle] threat—I will only succeed in putting all of you all into complete chaos,” Hadad told members. “If I do walk away, this whole process starts over and more importantly the association will go into dissolution. You will be facing receivership.
“You will be facing no more TTFA. The Home of Football will be sold and the creditors will be paid out of [that].”
Fifa has changed the members of its normalization committee in other countries like Haiti and Pakistan.
It is uncertain whether its refusal to do so in Trinidad and Tobago—despite repeated complaints by members and its own acknowledgement that the Hadad-led committee has not done its job—is because of Infantino’s fondness of the HadCo co-CEO, or his disdain for the will of Trinidad and Tobago’s football stakeholders.
Hadad, a football rookie with a less than rudimentary understanding of the TTFA’s constitution, attempted to school members on the power imbalance between Trinidad and Tobago and Fifa, and what that meant for the two-island republic.
“Like it or not, if you want to play football, you have to play football with Fifa,” said Hadad. “You can’t play football with the Vatican and Tobago… Stop talking to us like we are the enemy. We are not the enemy. I am getting tired of it.
“I am getting tired of sitting here and hearing a man (likely to be either Downer or VFFOTT interim president Selby Browne) rambling and saying the same thing over and over and over. If you don’t want us the problem is not you all, the problem is all the people you owe the money too.”
Fifa’s payment structure for normalisation committee members generally stands at US$6,500 (TT$44,000) per month for the chairman and US$4,000 (TT$27,000) for other members.
By that yardstick, Hadad could have pocked as much as TT$1.58m already for his position at the helm of the local game.
It remains a mystery too where Fifa banks its annual subvention to the TTFA of around US$1.5m—and the process used to convert the money to TTD.
The Fifa Statutes instructs the governing body to wire the money to a bank account on the island in the name of the football body. However, the TTFA’s bank account has been dormant since Hadad stepped in.
With a scarcity of foreign exchange for businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, it would be interesting to discover how the Hadad-led TTFA managed what is likely to be over US$7m by the time he steps away from the local body—whenever that is.
Fifa, ostensibly, is a body formed collectively by over 200 nations to organise its competitions and manage its finances. The majority of those member nations, including then TTFA president John-Williams, elected Infantino to spearhead the global organisation.
The TTFA is not a branch of Fifa. Rather, Fifa exists because over 200 nations—including Trinidad and Tobago—will it to be so.
However, Article 8.2 allows Fifa to invade a member association on obscure grounds and retain power so long as the majority of nations are not bothered to intervene.
Barring a case of electoral fraud in Argentina, Fifa almost exclusively used its “normalisation clause” against lesser football nations who are not members of the old economic “first world”.
In Trinidad and Tobago, football members now privately refer to Hadad as “Governor-General”—a loaded term meant to invoke memories of a time when the local proxy of its colonial master ran the country.
Fifa says 31 March 2024 will be the TTFA’s new “Independence Day”. But it has broken that promise twice already.
“I now look forward to the NC’s completion of its two-year assignment in this fourth year,” Browne quipped, in response.
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When a squatter takes residency
T&T Newsday
THE EDITOR: I would admit at the offset that I was one of those in favour of FIFA's normalisation committee (NC). So strong were my feelings that I put pen to paper on the issue. I admonished William Wallace and those against the move to support it and to look beyond narrow politics. I felt that it was a great opportunity for T&T football and any fight against the FIFA was futile.
I didn’t see the move as FIFA implementing some new policy/position requesting our renewed compliance nor did I see the move as a permanent solution to our self-governance of football. I didn’t see a 24-month normalisation committee becoming a 48-month entrenchment committee. I didn’t think a squatter was willing to take residency. But I should have known better.
A few years ago, in four simple steps, a squatter occupied then sold a piece of land opposite my home. The approaches of the squatter and the NC are very similar.
For step one, the squatter cleared the land. At first I was very happy and welcomed it, since the grass was overgrown and the place was unsightly. The NC in much the same way took the opportunity to clear out elected and hired football administrators. Some might say the clearing out was exactly what the T&T Football Association (TTFA) needed.
At step two, the squatter quickly established a boundary and enclosed the land by building a fence. I knew the fence was a bit much, but was it really my concern? Like the squatter, the NC protected its newfound interest by locking gates and sharing little or no information with anyone. A few protested and most felt it was not their concern and the NC continued.
Step three was the large and in charge period. During that time, the squatter challenged anyone who questioned his right to be there and even gave reasons why he was still there even after he was asked to leave. The NC is no different. Despite questions about the NC’s legitimacy and court challenges, it has maintained its “divine” right to be there. It is large and in charge, squatting without regard.
Then there was step four, the sale. The squatter finally placed a “for sale” sign on the property and palmed it off to some unsuspecting buyer.
Following the latest FIFA announcement about extending the life of the NC, it is clear it has reached step 4. The NC is not leaving and it is now ready to sell the Home of Football toute bagai. This should not be the approach.
FIFA and the TTFA are not the same as they were three years ago and the Government can no longer take a hands-off approach to the squatting.
Around the world governments are calling in football associations to give accounts of their stewardships on everything from wages to facilities. Therefore, our Government should be asking questions and getting answers about the squatter in local football.
At the end of the day the ownership and management of T&T football should be done by those we choose. There is a plethora of adept sporting professionals who can lead any transition to financial or structural prudency and the NC is no longer needed.
So, thanks, Robert Hadad (NC chairman), but your next communication to FIFA should be, “It is OK, but T&T will take it from here.”
DR MORIBA BAKER
via e-mail
Robert Hadad
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Ent allyuh like being SLAVES. What is the big surprise? STEUPES
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I warned everyone...
The government will not intercede because they are also supporting this NC being here with FIFA. As long as PNM is in power, our football will continue to suffer and the NC will continue to reign surpreme.
PNM will not step in to rid us of this scourge in the land, they will let this continue because they are sell outs. People don't like hearing the truth in Trinidad and Tobago, they prefer to bask in ignorance and servitude.
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I warned everyone...
The government will not intercede because they are also supporting this NC being here with FIFA. As long as PNM is in power, our football will continue to suffer and the NC will continue to reign surpreme.
PNM will not step in to rid us of this scourge in the land, they will let this continue because they are sell outs. People don't like hearing the truth in Trinidad and Tobago, they prefer to bask in ignorance and servitude.
This is pure Bs to lay blame for the incompetence's and misguided NC leadership on any political party. There is such a social media campaign to castigate the ruling party that people does forget the bs that happened with SPORTT and the amount of funds that was misspent.
Anyhow allyuh go ahead- It seems like every ill will event has its cause with government. When people will wake up and take the yampie outta ah dey eye before yuh look into others.
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If it was UNC doing this s%$# I would say the same damn thing.
The government is also liable for this, they sit idly by and watch the football deteriorate in the nation, PNM is the reason football in TT has not progressed, the longest standing political party in the nation that has done absolutely nothing to improve the nation and our football..
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Normalisation Committee timeline:
Early October 2023: Meet with Fifa and Concacaf at Fifa Forward Workshop to finalise proposal of statutes;
End of October 2023: Share proposed statutes with TTFA members.
November 2023: Consultation, led by Fifa and Concacaf, with TTFA members.
December 2023: Convening of General Meeting to approve statutes.
Mid-March 2024: Convening of TTFA elections.
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Clubs seek to bring FIFA Normalisation Committee before CAS
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
More than three years after the world’s governing authority for football, FIFA was forced to step in and attempt to ‘normalise’ the operations of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), the very body appointed with that task could themselves be heading to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and very soon.
Back in 2020, a FIFA-led investigation into irregularities found that the TTFA had “extremely low overall financial management methods and together with its massive debt, the was facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.
These findings led to the suspension of the then-elected executive and the appointment of an independent normalisation committee in March 2020, a firm requirement if T&T were to be allowed to compete in FIFA-sanctioned competitions and continue to receive the organisation’s funding.
The Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee, which has been in charge of local football since, was appointed with a clear understanding that control of football was to be returned to a duly elected local executive after a clearly defined FIFA mandate was fulfilled, which included amendments to the TTFA constitution.
However, reports reaching Guardian Media Sports say that several clubs, led by Selby Browne, president of the Veteran Footballers Foundation of T&T (VFFOTT) could be looking to drag the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee before CAS as they seek to overturn several recent decisions that in his opinion, are being imposed on member clubs of the TTFA.
On August 20, TTFA’s general secretary Amiel Mohammed issued a letter to members stating that the normalisation committee has worked on the amendments to the TTFA constitution as has been mandated by FIFA to get local football back on track stating:
“Pursuant to the communication shared in July 2023 at the University of T&T (UTT), National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain, it was indicated that the Normalisation Committee has worked on the amendments to the TTFA Constitution (Statutes) with FIFA and CONCACAF. Proposed amendments were shared with FIFA and CONCACAF for their feedback at that time, noting that the requisite personnel in FIFA and CONCACAF would be engaged in a very active August 2023 period which included the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“In consultation with our colleagues in FIFA and CONCACAF, the following timeline has been targeted regarding this matter: Normalisation Committee to meet with FIFA and CONCACAF in early October 2023 at FIFA Forward Workshop to finalise proposal of Statutes; Proposed Statutes to be shared with TTFA Members by the end of October 2023.”
It also stated: “Consultation discussions led by FIFA and CONCACAF with TTFA members to be held in November 2023. Convening of a general meeting to approve statutes in December 2023, before proceeding to TTFA elections by mid-March 2024, but not before the members approved of the changes to constitutional (statutes) - slated to be the second-to-last thing to be completed by the normalisation committee, to accomplish their mandate.”
In addition to the release, Mohammed told Guardian Media Sports that members will have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts with the TTFA and CONCACAF on the proposed changes before the listed timelines.
Yesterday though, Browne called on the normalisation committee to not link the election with the amendments to the constitution, saying the committee already had over three years to complete everything.
In responding almost immediately to the TTFA letter Browne said, “Let me first state that VFFOTT and other members of the TTFA reject in the strongest manner the announcements and timeline stated above, and consider as totally unacceptable, any such attempt to link approval of the amendments to the TTFA Constitution (Statutes) with the date set for termination of the term of the normalisation committee, March 2024.
“The above therefore puts to nonsense, the frivolous pronouncements advanced, for not having the proposed amendments to the TTFA Constitution (Statutes) presented to the TTFA congress for the past three-years and six-month period.”
He added, “Further, it has now become necessary to seek legal answers to the position held by VFFOTT and other TTFA members that approval of any amendments to the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) by the TTFA Congress and must now seek to be rushed as a prerequisite for the completion of item four of the mandate: - to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.”
Browne, who also made it public his intention to be among the members that will be contesting the position of president when the election bell is rung, said the VFFOTT and other TTFA members are of the view that approval of any amendments to the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) should now become the responsibility of new TTFA executive committee when elected for their four-year mandate.
“The answers to both these matters are now immediate and urgent and shall be sought through legal arbitration, given the need to ensure the term of the normalisation committee comes to an end in March 2024, after year four, of what was supposed to be a two-year mandate.
“We trust FIFA and CONCACAF would agree with VFFOTT and the TTFA membership, that taking this action now may be considered critical and necessary to facilitate bringing the work of the normalisation committee to a close in March 2024,” he said.
Meanwhile, the annual general meeting of the TTFA that was scheduled to be held on Saturday at the association’s home in Balmain, Couva, was adjourned until October 14 as Guardian Media Sports was reliably informed that of the 48 recognised members, only 16 showed up and this was eight short of the 24 members required to form a quorum for the meeting to proceed.
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Neo colonialism as I stated from the beginning
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What’s really going on here. There has to be a person/persons that stand to make money or gain political influence to keep this gong show afloat
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they are being paid to keep our football at bay, they don't want another team upsetting big teams again like what happened under Hart..
so Hadad and others are paid to make sure TT football never rises again
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TTFA election process on course; Normalisation Committee to leave office in 3 months
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
THE process leading to fresh Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) elections in three months’ time is on course, and the FIFA-imposed Normalisation Committee should demit office by March 17, without a further extension of its term of office.
Yesterday, both TTFA general secretary Amiel Mohammed and TTFA board member Osmond Downer confirmed that the process to hand over power to the TTFA is on course, and nearing completion.
However, another TTFA board member, Veterans Football Foundation president Selby Browne, has called on the TTFA general secretary to give a firm date for an upcoming TTFA extraordinary general meeting and its annual general meeting. The EGM is required for approval of the TTFA constitution by the members of the TTFA, while the purpose of the AGM is to conduct elections for a new TTFA executive.
After near four years in charge of football in Trinidad and Tobago, the management committee appointed by world football’s governing body, FIFA, is set to demit office in March as mandated.
FIFA took control of the TTFA’s affairs on March 17, 2020, when dissolving the TTFA executive headed by then president Williams Wallace, and imposing its own Normalisation Committee (NC) led by local businessman Richard Hadad.
FIFA justified its action by explaining that having accumulated an over $50 million debt, the Association was in danger of insolvency. The NC has since dissolved the TTFA’s huge historic debt and has just two further mandates: the amendment of the TTFA’s constitution, and the calling of fresh TTFA executive elections.
Contacted yesterday, both Mohammed, and Football Referees Association president Downer, indicated that, although slightly delayed, the process is on course for completion.
Following a meeting at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port of Spain, Mohammed had in July 2023, issued TTFA members with a set agenda for the completing of the NC’s mandate.
The final two items on the agenda read: (1) Convening of General Meeting to approve statutes in December 2023 and, (2) convening of TTFA elections in mid-March 2024). The NC also added: “Kindly note that the above points in the time line are subject to be altered, pending the fulfilment of the respective prior point”.
Mohammed suggested that the process is being followed. “We informed all the members of a particular time line which had been circulated to everyone,” he stated. “Everyone, probably barring one or two individuals, have been working with that time line.”
Mohammed continued: “It’s going according to the time line. We would have circulated the draft statutes for their review. They would have been given some time to give feedback, and now it about going through that feedback. The statutes would have to be approved by the general membership (via the EGM) and once the statutes are approved, then elections will be called before the end of March.”
Downer concurred with Mohammed that things were on course. He further explained that the staging of the EGM had only been pushed back a month and is now scheduled for January, 2024. “They have to have the extraordinary general meeting this month and elections by the end of March but, it is on schedule,” Downer added.
He also gave the path the process was proceeding along. “The Normalisation Committee sent out a draft and they gave the members up to the December 31 to submit any comments etc. Now that that has been done, they are supposed to send it back to FIFA, who in turn, will send it back to us, and an extraordinary general meeting (will be) held this month (January) to go into the changes,” Downer explained.
Meanwhile, Browne wrote Mohammed requesting specific dates in a letter headed: “Notice to the TTFA General Secretary to immediately circulate the date for both the TTFA EGM and AGM before January 28th 2024.”
Browne’s correspondence states, “As you are aware, the date of January 28, 2024, is the deadline for Notice of the TTFA AGM, should the already extended two-year appointed term of the Normalisation Committee come to an end on March 30, 2024.”
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Did the current NC secure loans to pay for the operation of TTFA?
If so, I assume they will be leaving the TTFA with loans outstanding?
Because how did they operate for those 4 years?
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FIFA, normalisation committee recommend April 13 TTFA elections.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday).
FIFA has recommended the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) host the election of its new executive (elective congress) on April 13.
The suggestion was put forward by FIFA Director of Strategic Projects Nodar Akhalkatsi in an email to the normalisation committee on Friday.
In response to this, TTFA General Secretary Amiel Mohammed issued a statement to association members on Saturday, in full agreement with FIFA’s recommendation.
Despite the normalisation committee’s tenure set to conclude on March 31, a decision will be facilitated for a short extension of their mandate, to ensure the elective congress is held on the set date.
This means the Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee will issue the notice for the extraordinary congress on or before February 13, after which, candidates for any of the executive committee positions must be submitted to the general secretariat by February 28.
From there, the general secretariat will circulate an official list of candidates to all TTFA members by April 3, with the extraordinary congress for the election to be convened on April 13.
In accordance with the mandate of the normalisation committee as outlined by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and Article 80 par. 7 of the TTFA Statutes, the normalisation committee acts as the electoral committee for these elections.
Akhalkatsi’s email recognised the normalisation committee overstaying their March 31 (Easter Sunday) deadline but wants to also ensure candidates have the required time to submit their slates and facilitate the electoral process.
He wrote, “It has to be ensured that the date of the elective congress is defined in a way, that the TTFA members have fair, feasible and realistic possibility to attend the congress and execute their statutory rights to participate in the congress and express their will by exerting their voting rights.”
Akhalkatsi requested the extension beyond the March 31 deadline “to respect a very important religious holiday”and the possible private commitments of its members on that particular weekend.
“We would therefore like to recommend to conduct the elective congress of the TTFA on 13 April 2023.”
Mohammed, in his Saturday email to TTFA members, thanked them for working with FIFA, Concacaf and Hadad and company throughout the process to realign TTFA’s statutes with FIFA’s.
He said the normalisation committee “believes that it is fair and just to give candidates enough time to organise their slates and campaign for the support of members, which requires at least 60 days’ notice, and is consistent with the notice period required for an ordinary congress.”
“We therefore support FIFA’s recommendation to host the elective congress on April 13, 2024. This will be facilitated by a short extension of the NC’s mandate and will result in the following timeline, which we believe will be respectful to all parties concerned and ensure that the process is fair, complete, and final.”
Mohammed’s email also said that, as discussed and agreed at the Emergency General Meeting on January 28 – in which the new TTFA statutes were approved by members – that the normalisation committee will “appoint independent persons to oversee the electoral process and its work as the electoral committee in accordance with the Electoral Code and Statutes of the TTFA.”
As it stands, Veterans Football Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFoTT) president Selby Browne, Eastern Football Association President Kieron Edwards and Southern Football Association President Dennis Latiff are, so far, the confirmed presidential candidates for the April 13 elections.
Currently, they are in the process of building their respective slates and will have the coming weeks to finalise their candidatures.
In response to Mohammed’s email, Browne replied saying that, “We at VFFoTT now await the formal notice of the FIFA Council for further extension of the term of the normalisation committee post-March 31st 2024.”
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Southern Football Association head Denis Latiff: Normalisation Committee did nothing for football.
By Roneil Walcott (T&T Newsday).
PROSPECTIVE TT Football Association (TTFA) presidential candidate Denis Latiff says the general feeling among the TTFA membership is one of relief following the confirmation of the April 13 date for the elections of the new TTFA executive.
Latiff said he has as good a chance as any at winning the upcoming TTFA presidential race, and he believes he and his team have what it takes to bring back corporate T&T into the local football landscape after many aspects of the local game received insufficient attention under the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee.
On Tuesday, TTFA general secretary Amiel Mohammed confirmed the election date to the TTFA membership, with the new TTFA executive committee set to be instituted at an extraordinary congress. Potential candidates for the nine executive committee positions must confirm their candidature to the TTFA general secretariat for the respective posts on or before February 28. The TTFA general secretariat must then disseminate the official list of candidates to the TTFA membership by April 3.
Latiff, president of the Southern Football Association (SFA), has indicated his desire to contest for the presidential post, alongside Veterans Football Foundation of TT (VFFoTT) president Selby Browne and Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards. On Tuesday, Mohammed told Newsday, “Technically, I have received no formal communication from anybody (regarding the TTFA presidency).”
Speaking to Newsday on Wednesday, Latiff said he was in the process of finalising his nine-member slate and submitting his nomination to the TTFA. Last week, Browne told Newsday he and his team will launch their campaign and manifesto after a meeting with the VFFoTT executive after the Carnival season.
“Everybody is glad for the election date,” Latiff told Newsday. “Whatever it means to them, everybody has a sense of relief. I am feeling pretty good about the election.”
With the election date now confirmed, the normalisation committee, which was appointed by Fifa in March 2020, has received an extension to April 30 at the latest to fulfill Fifa’s mandate.
“We are working to get this together now. We are coming strong. It is about time we get football back where it needs to be. The normalisation committee did not do anything for football itself. They were just being told what to do,” said the Tiger Tanks CEO.
“They did not look at a wide range of necessities for T&T football. Fifa just told them to do this and do that, and that was it. But many people have suffered. The teams have suffered. Many of the members have had disagreements. The zones have not been helped at all.”
Latiff said T&T’s football cannot maximise its potential if the football at the grassroots and regional level is not given the respect and attention it deserves.
“We must help the zones. That is where the footballers are coming from. You will not produce good footballers if you do not have the necessary tools like coaching and funding to host tournaments,” Latiff said.
“It is difficult. I am the head of the SFA right now and I am telling you it is difficult.”
Without revealing the names of the people in his slate, Latiff said they have substantial backgrounds in areas such as sport, business, management, law and human resources. He said it was important to have a versatile slate with expertise in various topics.
“These positions ensure that we will have all the necessary tools (to handle the TTFA office). We are going to have a wide range,” Latiff said.
A holder of an LLM in Business Law, Latiff is hoping to lean on his experience in the business field to firstly sway the TTFA membership in April, and also reinvigorate the TTFA’s external business operations.
“(T&T football) needs proper management and proper auditing. Sponsors and businesses want to be updated every time, because they want to see where their money is going,” Latiff said.
“I am a member of the Energy Chamber... they do not want to commit to the TTFA right now because they are afraid of where the money goes or does not go.”
Critically, four years ago, Fifa removed the then William Wallace-led TTFA executive and appointed the Robert normalisation committee after they found extremely low overall financial management methods being implemented by the TTFA, to go along with massive debt incurred by the local football body.
He said the operation of TTFA’s business side is just as important as the on-field product from the varying national teams.
“This is the business of football, not the game of football. The business of football gets (you) everything to play the game of football,” Latiff said.
“With that in mind, I think I have a fair chance of going and winning the TTFA presidency and bringing back the business people to the table.”
According to Article 30 par. 4 in the amended TTFA statutes, “Every slate in the election for positions within the executive committee, shall be proposed, in writing, by at least five members. Each member shall support one slate only.”
Latiff said he has no problem with the implementation of slates ahead of the TTFA election, and he said he and his team are willing to work together for the greater good of T&T football.
“Going up with a slate and you have everybody beforehand and everyone is committed, and everybody is one the same page going into the election – that is what you need.
“I do not mind that change at all.”
Latiff and his team have two weeks to make their push for the TTFA executive spots official.
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association elections set for April 13
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) will elect a new president and accompanying slate to oversee the affairs of TT's football on April 13, 2024 via an extraordinary congress.
TTFA general secretary Amiel Mohammed confirmed the election date via a press release on Tuesday.
The release said, "The normalisation committee of the TTFA has officially convened an extraordinary congress to be held on Saturday April 13, 2024 where the elections of the new TTFA executive committee shall take place."
Candidates vying for the nine executive committee positions must officially submit their names to the TTFA general secretariat on or before February 28 via "recorded post, email with delivery notification, or delivered by hand" in accordance with Article 8 par. 2 of the TTFA electoral code. The general secretariat must then circulate the official list of candidates to the TTFA membership by April 3.
With the election date now set for April 13, the TTFA's normalisation committee, who were set to demit office on March 31, effectively received another extension to fulfill the mandate given to them by Fifa with the new extension being pushed to April 30 at the latest.
On Monday, a letter from Fifa general secretary ad interim Mattias Grafstrom to normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad said the extension was necessary in this instance to facilitate the staging of the election in two months' time.
"In view of the specific timeframe established in the new TTFA Statutes, requiring a minimum of 60 days for the normalisation committee to convene an 8elective congress and for candidates to submit their candidatures to the general secretariat of the TTFA, the elections for a new TTFA executive committee will statutorily not be able to take place before the end of the normalisation committee's mandate (i.e. before March 31, 2024).
"In order to allow the normalisation committee to fulfill the final tasks of its mandate (i.e. organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate), the (Fifa) Bureau decided on February 12 to extend the mandate of the normalisation committee until April 30 at the latest."
The trio of Selby Browne, Veterans Football Foundation of TT (VFFoTT) president, Kieron Edwards, Eastern Football Association president and Dennis Latiff, Southern Football Association president, have all indicated their desire to run for the post of TTFA president, with Browne also saying his nine-member slate for the election has already been formed.
However, Mohammed told Newsday, "Technically, I have received no formal communication from anybody (regarding the TTFA presidency)."
Mohammed said the normalisation committee, in its capacity as the electoral committee, will appoint independent people to oversee the election process. He said the names have already been proposed to the TTFA membership.
As agreed to in the new TTFA statutes which were established in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on January 28, the 12 TT Premier Football League (TTPFL) tier one clubs which contested in its inaugural season, along with last season's top six TTPFL tier two clubs – bar Police FC – will all be afforded two votes in the elections. Each of the six regional associations and the TT Women's League Football also have two votes.
The remaining associations such as beach soccer, coaches, futsal, referees, Primary Schools Football League, Secondary Schools Football League and the VFFoTT all have one vote each.
In March 2020, the Bureau of the FIFA Council removed the then William Wallace-led TTFA executive and appointed a normalisation committee after they found extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt and a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity.
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of course they didn't do anything, it was sabotage on their part...
no progress and leaving us with a coach that cannot take us to the world cup
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Ramdhan wants new blood managing T&T football
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)
Despite the issuing of fresh elections by the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee last week, the sport is not yet in a safe place and will not be until there are changes in the people lobbying for positions to lead it, Ramesh Ramdhan said yesterday.
However, his entry into the administration of the sport as the general secretary of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) in 2019 was short-lived, as the sport's world governing body- FIFA intervened to cut short the William Wallace-led administration which had only been in power for three months.
Ramdhan, who was the first referee from the Caribbean to officiate in the World Cup Finals (Japan-Croatia) during the 1998 World Cup in France, also had a short stint in the same position within the normalisation committee before his departure from the sport which he claimed owed unpaid salaries for several months.
The normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, last week, issued an April 30 date for fresh elections of the TTFA, leading to the usual off-the-field battle among administrators.
To date, only three candidates - Selby Browne, the president of the Veterans Football Foundation of T&T, Keiron Edwards - president of the Eastern Football Association, and businessman and Southern Football Association president Dennis Latiff have shown an interest in leading the T&T football public.
Speaking to Guardian Media Sports on Thursday, Ramdhan issued a football card that would prevent all candidates from even considering the elections, noting that he had 'no confidence' in any of them. He said he believed that former TTFA Special Advisor Jack Warner was the most successful administrator in T&T, and urged whoever the new administration is, to seek advice from Warner if they wanted to be successful.
"There are not enough people involved in football presently, who could make a significant contribution to change our direction. I think we need people outside of the normal association and membership, who could impact football in a different way. It has not worked in the past, and apart from from FIVA vice president Jack Warner, who was a one-man show and who had resources at his hands, I think we need a group of people collectively, who really have an interest in football and not personal agendas," Ramdhan said.
Warner, who also held the positions of CONCACAF and Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president, has been banned from football for life and is also indicted on corruption charges by the US authorities, who are seeking to have him extradited.
However, Ramdhan said, "I think too many of our people who are involved in football right now have their own agendas, it's friendship, it's where you from, it's all kinds of different things. I can call people from outside of the current crop of association members to come and really make a proper contribution to football."
Ramdhan said: "Any contribution Mr Warner has to make in football will be useful, and I am saying that it is the most successful administration, given all the negatives that people put on the table where his administration is concerned. I think Trinidad has seen success under Mr Warner, albeit all that was said about him. Warner has a wealth of knowledge in football, especially in the marketing of the game, and the way he promotes the game, but he didn't go beyond it, which I wanted him to do and set up academies and so on and take it from the grassroots level up, but there was too much to be done at the top and he wanted quick success and he didn't see that then."
He added, "In his point of view, it was important in getting a team to the football World Cup. People might say we have the best chance now to qualify for another World Cup in 2026, and yes they have a possibility of several teams from the CONCACAF region that could possibly be in the World Cup, so yes we have a great chance. Between now and 2026, it takes somebody with experience, who has done it before to help us down that road, and I feel that in some way, whichever administration comes into office, they should seek out Mr Warner's advice on how to get there."
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Wharfe joins TTFA Presidential race
T&T Guardian
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL), Colin Wharfe, has entered the T&T Football Association (TTFA) presidential race.
Wharfe, officially announced his candidacy yesterday, declaring his readiness to contest the role after consulting with allies before deciding on a release ahead of the April 13 elections.
“This decision was not taken lightly. I have a long history of participation in local football, most recently steering the T&T Premier Football League, and being involved in crafting the medium-term strategy and plan for professional football,” said Wharfe in the release
“I had discussions with persons, within and outside of the football fraternity, about extending my involvement in local football administration. Their sentiments and encouragement have persuaded me to play a larger part in local football administration.”
He joins three other candidates, who have declared their intentions for the presidential role including president of the Veterans Football Foundation of T&T, Selby Browne, president of the Eastern Football Association, Keiron Edwards and Southern Football Association president, Dennis Latiff.
Last month at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the TTFA, at which 33 of the 47 members unanimously agreed to accept the changes to be made to the constitution, also invoked the right of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee led by businessman Robert Hadad, to call fresh elections and conclude the mandate handed to them by the sport’s world governing body- FIFA, in March of 2020.
Wharfe is currently in charge of the TTPFL which is in its first full season. He has worked with T&T Pro League clubs and was the chairman of the Steering Committee of the 2022 Tiger Tanks Under-20 Tournament.
Expressing his awareness of the concern for the state of football in this country, he stated that he was ready to do his part.
“Following the ratification of the TTFA statutes and the subsequent announcement of the date for executive committee elections, T&T football is rapidly moving from normalisation to normalcy. There is a desire for change and I believe I can lead the change. The statutes, along with their enabling policies and procedures, if fully implemented and rigorously adhered to, provide a framework and guardrails to bring about the desired change at the TTFA,” said the CEO of the TTPFL.
He went on to cite his tenure in leadership roles during his professional career, which emphasizes his qualifications for the position according to Wharfe in the release.
“I bring a wealth of business leadership experience that is applicable and transferable to this job, he said.
“These were developed and nurtured during my 30-year career at one of the top professional services firms in the world; where I held senior leadership positions in the region and managed the local branches of several global client accounts.
“I possess the skills to advance the work that has already begun and of which I have been a part, so I decided to run for the post.”
He continued, “I feel compelled to seize the opportunity to lead an expanded team that will propel T&T football. I fervently believe that football can be a driver of societal engagement and national transformation, at a time when multi-faceted approaches are needed.”
He added, “Discussions are currently being finalised with individuals to comprise a diverse and professional team, and ‘The Slate’ will be revealed as we move ahead toward the elections.”
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Browne still extends hand to election rivals
By Garth Wattley (T&T Express)
Three men have openly declared their intention to run for the presidency of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), but one of them is still hoping the field can be reduced.
Selby Browne says he’s leaving the door open for an accommodation with his potential rivals.
Next Wednesday is the deadline for all potential candidates for the April 13 TTFA elections to be nominated. And so far Browne, president of the Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT), head of the Southern Football Association Dennis Latiff and Eastern Football Association president Kieron Edwards have declared their interest in being the next president.
However, since the election date was announced, attempts have been made between the three to have an accommodation without success. However, Browne has not given up on the idea.
“What I have told them, both Latiff and Kieron is that we should all come together and agree to have one entity and go to the election with one slate,” the VFFOTT president told the Express yesterday. “We don’t need an election to determine who will run the TTFA. Let us come together and do that...I have invited them to do that.”
Browne added: “It’s up to them to come back to me. I know one reached out on Sunday...but it is up to them to do it...It is still open to them.”
Latiff, however, said yesterday that he is pressing ahead with a slate of his own.
“Others have their own personal agenda,” he said. “I going with a national agenda, not a personal agenda. There is nothing personal in this for me to gain. I am coming with a new slate that I think could move football forward in Trinidad and Tobago.”
In the meantime, Browne expects to finalise his slate by the weekend.
“Whatever my veteran footballers decide Saturday morning 10 o’clock at the Barataria Sports Complex...(that’s) what our slate will be,” he said, adding: ”Our VFFOTT membership, we have had forums, we have brought people in, we have done consultations throughout all the zones-- Tobago, North, Central and we have come up with what is the plan for the restructuring and development of Trinidad and Tobago football. That is ten years of work, more than.”
Browne also said he expected another slate to come to the fore by the nomination deadline day. But he is keen to get the process finished because he said much time has been lost in preparing the national senior team for World Cup qualification.
“Clearly, the Normalisation Committee has missed the opportunity (to prepare) so what we are hoping and praying on is defeating Canada next month in Texas to go into the CONMEBOL, which if we do well in the CONMEBOL we will seed a place or we go into the World Cup qualifiers that start in June,” Browne claimed.
“That is where we are at today, knowing since 2020 that you have a World Cup in 2026 to be hosted in the CONCACAF with three countries already seeded and then the three-and-a-half places, and you haven’t had a team in training and preparation, living let us say in Panama or Mexico or the US and playing actively...We have wasted the opportunity. We are on a hope and a prayer right now.”
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so which one is good for our football?
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so the TTPFL is funded by the TTFA, who is in turn funded by FIFA...
So the increase of votes with the voting of the TTFA will mean that the next president will be a FIFA puppet :D
So ask yourself this question, why do external Neo colonial powers want to control our football?
if we were garbage and had no talent and couldn't threaten the order of things, they wouldn't interfere ...
I saw Lisana's article, well done in his research... That Wharfe man said he wants to continue what TTFA started, that is a surefire indicator
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I Did My Job: ‘Very satisfied’ Hadad happy to move on after 4 years
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
ROBERT HADAD gives the impression that he cannot wait to hand over office to Kieron Edwards, who was elected the new Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president on Saturday, when the Association held its elections and Extraordinary Congress at the Home of Football, Couva.
Citing financial concerns, on March 17, 2020, FIFA took over control of the TTFA and appointed Robert Hadad (Chairperson), the late Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson), Nigel L Romano (Member) and Trevor Gomez (Member) to serve as members of the Normalisation Committee (NC), which would manage the sport locally.
And having been in charge of T&T football for the past four years, Hadad does not expect to return to the sport.
“I have no intention of doing anything more,” the local businessman declared. “I am quite happy to move on with my personal life. I love fishing, I love the outdoors, and I’m going to continue in my quest for some personal, private time, without anything hanging over my head--like football.”
Hadad also indicated he would like to begin the transfer of power immediately. “I look forward to handing over to them on Monday morning,” Hadad stated at the end of the TTFA Congress, while also congratulating Edwards and his Team Progressive slate for winning the elections by a 38-19 margin.
He also lauded the large turnout of TTFA delegates on Saturday. “I’d like to congratulate the TTFA members. I think they were very professional coming out in their numbers, 100% attendance,” Hadad said.
Present at Saturday’s elections was Marco Leal, CONCACAF’s Head of Member Associations and Legal Affairs, who also serves as CONCACAF’s Acting General Secretary. Leal spoke glowingly about the work Hadad and members of his Normalisation Committee had done, before handing out tokens of appreciation to them.
“There are no words I can (use to) describe the appreciation we have for the work of the Normalisation Committee,” Leal said. “They really sacrificed their time, their efforts, their families, in the benefit of Trinidad football.”
Also sending kudos to Hadad and his team was new TTFA president Edwards. “The Normalisation Committee played a crucial role in Trinidad and Tobago football,” said Edwards. “We need to understand that, and we need to acknowledge the service they would have given to Trinidad and Tobago football.”
Meanwhile, Hadad hoped that the local game will now move forward. He noted the impact that football can have on decreasing crime, and believed that the men’s national team had the capacity to return to the top-50 in the FIFA World Rankings.
The major achievement in Hadad’s four years in charge was to oversee the liquidation of a multi-million TTFA debt that stood for decades. And Hadad stated: “The normalisation process is completed.” He further explained that debtors had been paid, with the exception of disputed matters involving Englishmen Terry Fenwick and Peter Miller, which are before the local courts.
“There are two matters before the court and those matters have to be resolved. The trustee Maria Daniel will continue working to bring those matters to a close,” noted Hadad.
Of his tenure, Hadad felt he had done reasonably well in four years and had completed the mandate given to him by FIFA. “I was very satisfied with what we were able to achieve,” said Hadad, adding. “I think that the last four years have brought us (to) a better place and I’m content with that. I don’t think I can please everybody, and I don’t think I will ever please everybody.
“The Association, I would think, they are in a pretty good place. The Association is debt free, save an except for the financial arrangement with FIFA which will be paid off over the next ten years. The rest of it is up to Mr Edwards now and the membership, to take football forward,” Hadad concluded.